How To Outrun Death
by Lore55
Summary: Being dead was different from what he'd thought it would be like. In fact, as far as Wally could tell death felt an awful lot like laying on the snow in an insulated, friction proof suit.
1. Ceased

**I should be working on my other stories but this idea has been in my head for too long for me to just let it go so here's it is.**

 **Ceased, Chapter 1**

* * *

 _"Just tell them, okay?"_

Death wasn't like he'd thought it would be. There were no waiting arms of his grandfather or soft light or pearly gates. There was no burning screams of agonized pain. There wasn't even an empty void for him to float through.

As far as Wally could tell death felt an awful lot like laying on the snow in an insulated, friction proof suit.

Wind was kind enough to ruffle his bangs, bringing extra attention to his face and cold packed against the left side of it.

Green eyes flickered open, squinting into the near impenetrable darkness. He could vaguely see shapes in the distance, or maybe they were right in front of his half frozen face, brought on by the snow clinging to his lashes. He couldn't tell.

The sky was partially cast over, showing only the smallest gleanings of stars.

Wally tried to push himself up, hissing when the effort ended in shooting pain through his limbs, every molecule shrieking with it. He fell back down, electricity spasming under his skin worse than when he tried going through walls.

After his aborted attempt to get up the ginger lay there, taking stock of his situation. Every muscle he had hurt, minus his brain, and thanks to Batman's design he wasn't growing numb because of the ice growing around him.

It almost felt like when he woke up in the hospital after recreating the Flash Experiment, only the bed there was harder and he didn't have a hundred monitors hooked up to him.

Thoughts of his uncle and his friends, where they had gone, fluttered through his head. He shoved them away violently to stop the heart break that came with them.

He was dead, or he should have been. He knew it, he had felt the triple speedster cyclone strip his life away as he took the runoff energy.

 _Fastest boy alive. Right_.

With that bitter thought in mind Wally tried again, managing to push himself up. He shouldn't have been in the snow even if he had, by some miracle, survived. They wouldn't let him lay in there and become human permafrost.

His muscles begged him to lay back down when he forced himself into a stand. Something wasn't adding up. He needed to figure out what.

So he did what he did best. He ran.

And almost fell on his face.

He had started at full speed, to stretch his legs and get to civilization, only to find that his 'top speed' was now, well, not.

He could tell even in the pitch of his landscape that he was faster, thanks to the internal speedometer that all speedsters had. Much, much faster. Faster than he had ever been before. Maybe even as fast as Bart. As Jay. As _Barry_.

One more mystery.

There were getting to be so many it threatened to make his head spin. In order to figure it out he had to get more information, and he wasn't getting it there.

So, with a mix of excitement and apprehension, he started to run again.

It was amazing. It was like his first sprint as Kid Flash, his first race from Central to Keystone, only faster. The wind screamed in his ears until he destroyed the barrier of sound, leaving him in silence to run. The snow launched itself in the air behind him and when he hit the water his hopes, which had been lifting, exploded into a laugh that burst from his chest. He may not know how but he was running quicker than he ever had before, across the surface of the ocean.

If nothing else he was faster now.

So, maybe he was in a coma.


	2. Discoveries

**Hey there.**

 **I don't have any rights to DC.**

 **Reviews;**

 **MyNameIsWolf: Thank you, I tried to really put the picture there of where he woke up and what was going on.**

 **Goldenbrook15: Thanks! I hope the next day is soon enough!**

 **Discoveries, Chapter 2.**

* * *

His first stop was, naturally, Central City.

He zipped in, trepidation keeping him from stopping for a snack the way his body tried to demand. He'd already eaten on his way, emptied his arm cupboards, picked up kuchen once he hit Chile's southern coast, and snagged a few coxinha on his way out of Brazil. After that he had been too nervous to continue eating, even when his body told him he should.

Once he reached the city proper he slowed to what was for him a light jog. To everyone else it was streak of red and yellow.

The city was, for the most part, just the way he'd left it. The hot June sun beat down on it, forcing many into the safety of the indoors and the air conditioning. The cement rippled with waves of heat, fluttering into the sky. He pitying the dogs hot-hopping on the sidewalks, their paws probably burning horribly.

He was lucky his suite kept temperature at a regulated pace, preventing burning from friction and freezing from snow. Others were less fortunate, stuck in as few layers as they could possibly manage.

It was called Missouri for a reason.

There were some things wrong with it though. The technology was old, stuff he hadn't seen since he was a kid. There wasn't a single Apple product, it was all Nokia and Siemens, and infant Samsung phones. Even the Wayne Tech was low grade.

Shop windows had toys from shows that he hadn't seen in years. Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, Buzz Lightyear, and more he'd forgotten even existed.

It was surreal.

An abandoned newspaper that lay forlornly on the ground in front of his parents house gave him an answer to a question that he had barely dared contemplate in his sprint. He stood stock still in the neighborhood, under the tree that had been in his yard for years. The paper hung limply in his gloved hands.

June 20, 1999.

He had gone back in time.

* * *

He had not gone back in time.

If he had simply gone back in time he would have been able to run up to his uncle, blurt out an explanation and receive help, of some kind, any kind. If he had gone back in time he would have a vague idea of how to reverse it, or he could have found someone who owed him a favor who could do it. Worst case scenario he would have to avoid paradoxes by never touching his small self.

This was much, much worse.

On his way in there had been something about the city aside from the technology and the old pop culture that had bothered him. He hadn't been able to place it until he was standing in front of his uncles house in hastily 'borrowed' civies. Whatever was going on he didn't need to be caught or draw attention to himself yet.

When he'd gone to door to knock firmly it had opened to the familiar face of his uncle, blond hair and bright eyes. He had looked at Wally and the young man was struck with the sudden realization that there was something _wrong_.

Every speedster, each and every one of them no matter how old or young, had an air about them perceptible only to others of their own kind. He's felt it with Bart the instant they met, with Barry and Jay as soon as he woke with powers. On one memorable occasion with the Wonder Ladies he'd been nearly overwhelmed with the sparking speed of Hermes himself.

That presence, the hum of Speed Force that cloaked them, buzzing under their skin and revealing their nature to one another, was gone. It wasn't in Barry and with a horrible start Wally realized that the thing wrong with the city, what he hadn't been able to place, was something missing.

There were no kids in red shirts with lightning bolts, there wasn't a poster or an action figure of the scarlet speedsters. Statues, the museum, it was all gone. Or rather, it had never existed.

The Flash didn't exist.

Green eyes grew wide and welled till they were cloudy in the face of blue that turned from curious to concerned in a way so familiar it was like a stab in the chest.

Instinct took over and Wally did what he had he had been doing all day. He ran.

He ran from his uncle, from his home, from the city that had once been his. He ran without direction, his feet taking him without thought or direction to the familiar, standing peak of Mount Justice, which had never seen the actions of heroes or hosted a gaggle of teenagers trying to make their own place in the world.

That day its peak hosted a speedster, the only speedster on that plane of existence. He sat for hours, his speed turning internal. Questions, answers and observations shot through his mind at blinding speeds. Eventually he realized he needed more information, and found himself in cyber café in Happy Harbor. He checked around, searching first for the Flash.

Nothing came up that he was looking for, not even Jay's career. Wally's fears were confirmed. There was no Flash. None at all.

Chewing his lip nervously Wally typed again, searching for Artemis. As he had predicted, all he got were results on the Greek Goddess. Another search revealed little about her family, only that everyone except for her was currently active. There wasn't a single record he could find on her, only on reports of assassinations that fit the profile of her dad and sister, made more disturbing by the fact that at this time Jade was barely 10. Paula Crock was still in jail.

Wally made a note to run by Gotham and check on her before he searching for the cities resident vigilante. The reports went back two years, rumors and gossip more than actual confirmation. There wasn't a Robin involved, which lead him to search for his best friend. A sigh of relief fell from him when he only found a link to Haly's Circus. His parents were fine, and Dick hadn't even made his premier. And, by Wally's time line, wouldn't for another four years.

Maybe he could make sure that this one turned out better.

Planning could wait for later. He still needed to know where everyone was. Conner next, though he doubted he would find anything.

The search engine sent him to articles on Superman, who was perfectly content to fly around Metropolis it seemed.

The next few searches were, well, they were strange.

There was no record of Wonder Woman or Aquaman, let alone their partners, though Green Arrow was cited as being in Star City, information about him holding for only a few months. Black Canary was story of the past. The Martians too, there was nothing not related to Looney Toons about them. Green Lanterns were known, which was something.

As he sat there a horrible, aching loneliness curled into Wally's chest, threatening to stop the breath from entering his lungs.

All of his friends were either children or didn't exist, his family wouldn't believe him if he went to them, his girlfriend was a fraction of his age.

It struck him that here, in this world, he was completely and utterly _alone_.

Death would have kinder.

* * *

Even running didn't help him to feel better, an activity that had once placed a crown upon his head now dropped to become a noose around his neck.

He was so much faster, the Speed Force sang under his skin like a choir every time he passed thirty miles per hour. He had always wanted to be quicker, ever since they realized he was the slowest of all three runners. That only got worse when Bart arrived an accented exactly how slow the he was. It was never the best for self-esteem when a thirteen year old can outrun you.

He had wished to be faster but right then, standing in front of his house and watching his dad play catch with a little ginger, he would have given up both of his legs if it meant being able to just go home.

When his mom came out with orders to go into dinner, her home made pizza, his stomach reminded him that no matter how sick he felt and no matter how close to a break down he was he still had a metabolism to watch.

It was only the fact that if his girlfriend -or was she his ex now?- ever found out he was willing to skip a meal she would find creative ways to mangle him that got the boy moving again, shaking his legs out in the jeans that were two sizes too big.

He was going to have to figure out where to sleep to, and how to even pay for his food until he could.

He always kept money in his suite, all four of them did, or used to, in case they needed it. It wasn't just American money, he had Paso's, Yen and Euro as well. Not that those did him a whole lot of good state side but he was set if he decided to get dinner from Di Matteo.

In the end he settled for a few burgers and a bench in the park, one he had to split with the familiar face of Gregg Tarsh. He'd known him forever, he'd split sandwiches with him every Saturday for eight years.

This Gregg didn't even know his name.

Still, true to his kind nature he was willing to offer a jacket he really couldn't spare to a boy who was shivering in a stolen T-Shirt.

Wally added another note to his growing list to help the old veteran however he could when he finally got on his feet, the last note he was able to make before the day caught up with him and darkness slipped over his eyes.

If one looked carefully they might notice shining tracks leading down his cheeks.

* * *

The helicopter roared above their heads, blowing white powder all around. Spot lights pointed at a thin sliver of darkness standing stark against the snow, a body print sprawled next to it. Photographers in military uniforms surrounded the area, snapping shots before anything could change. Scientists in fur lined coats ran around, setting up tents and measuring energy. Already people were preparing a long stick to poke at the slice in the air.

The 'copter touched down, making way for a woman who's dark skin was stark against the uniform parka that her escorts shared.

"What have we got?" she asked, voice loud over the slicing blades above her head.

Someone nearby with free hands saluted. Everyone else just squared their shoulders in a variation of Attention while they went about their work.

The nearest scientist was the one to report, "We're not sure yet."

"Explain," she ordered tersely.

"The energy anomaly left behind what we believe to be a scar in reality, a sort of wound in the space time continuum," he said gesturing to the sliver of lightless void. "It's already smaller than when we got here, we think it might be closing on its own. That's why we're working so fast to get as much data as we can."

The helicopter finally stopped, letting them speak only over the force of the arctic wind.

"And that?" she asked, pointing to the imprint on the ground.

The scientist frowned. "That," he said slowly, "Was there when we got here. The scar was originally big enough for a person to go through. A five foot eight inch person, if you want to get exact."

The woman's lips turned a thin line of displeasure. "Are you telling me that someone came through that thing?"

"Yes," he nodded, "We're almost positive about that. "

"And where would this person be now?" she asked, voice as frosty as the ground beneath their feet.

"We don't really know," he admitted, looking anywhere else but in her eyes. She had a reputation that preceded her, one for being ruthless and harsh.

"I suggest you find out before we learn if it's a threat or not." Her 'suggestion' was clearly an order, one that set the scientist to nodding rapidly and fleeing as soon as he found a place to go, leaving her alone.

Amanda Waller stood above the angel of a person who had fallen into their world, even the snow hardly daring to disturb her thoughts.


	3. The Job

**Man I am on a roll here.**

 **MyNameIsWolf: Amanda Waller is actually canon DC, she appears in a lot of stuff, including but not limited to; Arrow, Justice League Unlimited, and Batman: Assault on Arkham.**

* * *

It turned out that dying was the easy part. Living was when things got hard.

It would have been funny if it wasn't true.

He had to start from scratch, totally alone, surrounded by a world that was familiar and foreign. He was there but he had no place, no family, no friends. Nothing.

So he started over.

It was difficult to set up the fake ID, but he had spent most of his adolescence tracking them down, taking them apart and finding out who supplied them. Making one up wasn't very hard, especially not when he could tell the absolute truth. Age, name, school grades, he kept it all the same. Even his major, forensic anthropology, were all the same.

Once that was done he was able to get a job, a small one at a local deli. It didn't pay much, but sleeping in a crappy motel sounded better than sleeping in the park, even when he had good company.

His boss was nice enough, if a bit eccentric.

"Don't forget to smile Wally!" he practically chirped when he handed over the young man's uniform.

The ginger obeyed awkwardly, giving a halfhearted salute. "Yes sir, I'll be sure to do that."

"Good boy," the man clapped him on the shoulder, "I'll be in my office if Randy sets the toaster on fire again," he declared before waltzing out of the room.

Wally stared at his back, green shirt tight in his hands. Again? The purple haired punk made a habit of that?

A sigh came from his mouth, heartfelt and true, before he changed into the polo shirt that was his uniform. Jenkin's Deli sprawled across the left breast, like a branding for his occupation. Wally had never liked jobs like this.

The deli, as the name would suggest, smelled like various meats and cheeses, as well as an assortment of fountain drinks. For a speedster who was now getting by mostly on guilt-bitter, stolen food it was torture.

"Hello," he smiled through the unjust temptation that surrounded him. He should have tried for the job stocking shelves.

"Hi," the girl in front of him greeted. He faltered at the sight of the young Mrs. Adison from junior year health who had once been trapped under a car after Cold attacked. But not here, not here, that hadn't happened, she didn't know him, he didn't exi- "Turkey on wheat, jalapeno's, cucumbers and ranch." –st.

Wally forced himself to focus on making the sandwich, keeping his crisis at bay until he had at least an apartment. Then he could freak out and figure out what to do with this life.

"Sure, anything else? Drink, dessert, chips?" he watched her face scrunch up at the last mention and remembered her obsession with dieting. For a while in his senior year he had worried she was developing a disorder.

"No," she said tersely, snapping a twenty on the marble counter and ripping her wrapped sandwich away. Wally didn't get defensive, years of practice of taking jibes and hits keeping his tongue glued to his teeth. It wouldn't do to snark his first real customer.

He handed over the change with a cheerful, "Have a nice day," before taking Randy's place at the head of the line.

Wally almost had a heart attack when he saw the face of the person in front of him.

It was James, impossibly spiked hair and happy face so achingly familiar it was all Wally could do not to lean over and crush him into a hug.

Knowing his Trickster the guy would probably hug him right back.

"Hi there!" James greeted. Wally tried to return it but no sooner had his mouth open than the other mans did, spewing out an order so convoluted and fast there was no way anyone else would have heard it. When he glanced down at Randy Wally could see him looking guilty.

Sure, sure, give the new kid the impossible order.

Wally took out the French bread, drizzling honey on the inside as he had been instructed. "Anything else with that?" he asked, stacking together pickles, three different meats, and assortment of peppers and crushed bag of Doritos like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Randy looked stunned. James seemed ecstatic.

Wally just smiled and finished the transaction, his heart begging him to talk to the other. James wouldn't recognize him, but there was no doubt in Wally's mind that he would believe him.

If only that wasn't because of his own sanity issues.

Since he was sure that that's what it would have ended up being Wally waved him off with a kind farewell and moved on, steeling himself.

Maybe he should have moved to Seattle.

Nothing ever happened in Seattle.

* * *

For months after arriving Wally debated going public with his vigilantism, or even going back to it at all. Central City was still a happy place, a blinding sun if compared to Gothams dark shadows, but crime still existed and knew that even if they hadn't yet Meta's were going to be popping up eventually. Or Hit-men, or the government, or mad scientists. It was just a matter of time.

The decision was taken out of his hands one Thursday night while he was eating dinner, listening to reports on a battery operated radio older than his dad was. Had been.

"Breaking news" was either wonderful or horrible. As a hero you tend to expect the latter more than the former.

"Minutes ago there was an explosion at S.T.A.R. labs! Most lower floors have been evacuated but the upper floors are still trapped in a growing inferno. The fire department struggles to contain this terrible disaster before-"

Wally heard no more. In an instant he had gone from sitting on the floor of his empty living room to running down the street in full costume. He really had no desire to be seen in it, but it was flame resistant.

Fire flashed across the darkening sky, people screamed and out of the building fell mutilated and mutating bodies.

Wally braced himself and raced inside. Heat slammed into his exposed skin like a wall, no doubt burning his entire lower face and a good amount of his hair. Wally coughed out some smoke, switching his goggles a different setting so he could see through the floating ashes. People were around, trying to get free but trapped or caught helping someone else.

The closest to Wally was a woman in a lab coat, struggling against a table lodged into the wall behind her. Its legs acted as a prison, holding her hostage as the flames stretched their fingers for her.

The young hero rushed forwards, taking in the scene and the solutions in a second. With his mind working a mile a minute he started maneuvering her out of her trap, being weary of the tear in her side.

He ran her outside, shoved her in the arms of a policeman, and vanished again in a blur of yellow and red. He had things to do.

Through the haze of smoke and fire, debris and shattered support beams he worked, climbing through spaces fire fighters couldn't get, running people injured or old or just plain slow up and down the remaining flight of stairs until there were none left, only chemical bottles and lab animals. Those too he fetched, freeing from the clutches of deaths fire.

No one needed to die that way. Not while he was around.

It only took him a few minutes to have the building cleared. Faster than he had before.

He could feel it in his blood, in his bones.

The Speed Force hummed through his very molecules, singing songs of MPH unreached, places unseen, fights to come.

In that simple, routine act of heroics Wally knew.

He was a Flash, through and through.

Here, he would make that name known. Here he would bring hope and joy to people whenever they saw him, the way Barry and Jay did, the way he had started to before retirement.

You could never really get away from The Life. Not even him. So he stood tall in the shadows outside the burning building, running a hand through his singed hair.

He would be the first one there, the fastest man on the planet.

From then on he would be the only one.

Wally West would be the Flash.


	4. Mirror Image

**Chapter 4 already!**

 **Reviews;**

 **Goldenbrook15:You're very welcome. Thank you for taking the time to review, I appreciate it!**

 **MyNameIsWolf: He definitely misses his family. It would be so horrible for that to happen! That particular diner I just spun up for the sake of this story.**

 **UnlockedPotential: Thank you!**

 **authorwannebe: I like them to. I'm glad you enjoy this one!**

* * *

There were some parts of a human beings response to stress that Wally missed.

Being a Speedster his brain worked differently than everyone else's, not just in the speed that it functioned and processed but in the way the chemicals worked together. If he was lucky he would never need another brain scan after the one Batman took to asses a concussion when he was fourteen. Seeing once the difference between his grey matter and regular persons was more than enough, thanks all the same. It was like having a strange variation of ADD, or ADHD depending on the day.

It also prevented a lot of things from developing when he was under stress or in extreme mourning.

Anyone who didn't have his benefits would have found themselves in a state of severe depression. Wally, while depressed, did not have a horrible sense of _nothing_ the way James had once told him full on depression was like when he wasn't taking his meds. Wally was just sad and lost and cried himself to sleep every few night for three months straight. Still bad, but it could have been worse.

Another thing he missed out on, one that would have probably been useful in that time frame, would have been the ability to disassociate.

Wally could move his thoughts faster than his body, which was as close as he got, and while it did make it faster to adjust to this new world it was still the same amount of time perceived by him. For what he viewed as a normal persons months, others saw in actuality weeks, or days.

Barry had once said the first thing you learned as a Speedster was patience.

He didn't have that down all the way.

All in all he was grateful for the alterations to his person. That didn't mean he wouldn't have preferred to have never had it at all if it would have kept him from being sent from his family and friends.

In any case, it was what it was, and he wasn't able to change it.

He was able to change his shifts around now that he was full time. Jenkins was a nice man who let him do what he liked for the most part. There was nothing bad about his job, except for Randy's continuous ability to light things that should not burn on fire.

Outside of work he was having trouble.

Oh, his vigilantism was fine. He was catching attention, as he knew he would. Thankfully his friendly, open nature was winning people over in a manner the exact opposite of Batman. There were no meta's causing trouble or super villains plotting so far, so good for that. His costume had undergone a change from his original. It was the same material, but now the yellow was taking on the same bright red as everything else and he had managed to get a top to drop over his give-away red hair.

He was emulating his uncle, the greatest superhero he knew.

Aside from Hero Work he was finally coming to understand what people meant when they talked about starving college students.

He was in college, paying debt, and struggling to keep up a dingy apartment he'd managed to collect enough money to rent in the lower parts of the city. He didn't have much spending money. In fact almost everything was split between the apartment, food, and school. He didn't even use the lights in there for fear of running up the electricity. He didn't even have a cell phone.

He wouldn't be able to afford those luxuries for some time now, not until he was free of college. Even then it would be a long time before he could be free of the debt.

At least he'd had practice managing finances before, with Artemis at his side. He was always good at numbers and she was always amazingly practical. He had learned a lot from her, which was one of the only reasons he was still staying afloat.

He owed her a lot, and there was a good chance he would never be able to repay her for it.

He could try though, which was what lead to his running into the dark streets of Gotham, towards a familiar apartment building that threatened to crumble if poked wrong.

Wally wasn't stupid enough to go in costume, not only would that be a bright target but he didn't feel like putting himself on Bruce's bad side by breaking his cardinal rule. Gotham was his city, and no one interfered with that. Wally had been taught to respect those wishes to the point that he followed them even when they hadn't be stated.

That was how found himself in Gotham, in civies that were so far from sturdy or high class he fit right in.

He stood in front of the building, thinking of all the times he had zeta'd over to see her, all the nights he had sat up with Paula while Artemis was 'dead'. It twisted his features into a broken heart, something no Gothamite would so much as blink at.

Yes, the lonely, struggling vigilante would have fit right in in that city.

Slowly he climbed the stairs, finding that just like in his world the third from the top squeaked.

It was only when he was at the top realized exactly what he was doing and stopped, standing in front of the chipped paint of the door. He wanted to know if she was okay, desperately wanted to know. But how was he supposed to do this? She was barely a child and what's more, she wasn't his Artemis. No more than the stranger who like Doritos and Honey on his sandwich was his James or the blond man who showed up at crime scenes was his Uncle Barry.

He stopped, staring hard at the number on the outside of the door.

He needed to stop. Stop remembering them as different people, stop thinking of them as the same as those he knew so fondly. They weren't and none of them ever would be, as much as it hurt him to think.

Wally had to let go of those thoughts that they were. He had to let go of the past and stop chasing ghosts of an alternate future.

For his own sake.

* * *

He left Gotham without doing anything more standing under the street light on one of Bruce's favorite runs, listening hard until he heard the soft sweeping of a cape in the sky high above.

* * *

It became easier after that. Slowly, he started separating what he thought of as his friends and family from their identical counter parts. And steadily he stepped out of mourning and into living.

Oh, he still got sad when he thought of them. He started crying in the middle of the street once because he smelled the same amazing Turkey his mom had always made for them on thanksgiving.

But steadily, as the months passed and his graduation came and went, the pain settled into a dull ache and he was able to see the familiar faces of his childhood, of his past and of his future. He was able to converse with his aunt Iris when she interviewed him for the news. He even flirted a bit until she held up her wedding ring.

He thought he was doing well until he was coming up on the year marker of his arrival.

Eleven months and eighteen days after his arrival it was even hotter than the first day. Sweat held his clothes to his back as he walked into the bank, pulling his sunglasses off to see in the shade of the building. The cheap pair slipped into his pocket and he took his place in line, tapping his fingers to his thigh in a rhythm of a song that didn't yet exist.

The bank manager, J. Wilkins, strode in, nodding to his patrons. Wally smiled back and gave a chipper 'good morning' before he went back to waiting.

Something, some instinct, made him look back at Wilkins. There was something… different. Green eyes narrowed in contemplation for the issue he detected.

Yes, there was something Off. His hair was parted to the wrong side. His wedding ring was on his right hand. And weren't breast pockets usually on the left? It was like Wilkins had been flipped over.

 _Like he was a mirror image._

Wally swallowed thickly, quickly moving forwards to cash his check. When he had the cash in his pocket he left and went around back, waiting for Wilkins to emerge.

When he did it was with a brief case in one hand and a purpose in his stride. Warning bells went off in Wally's head and he shed his backpack, pulling out the crimson suite from within. He changed in a second, tapping his chest to switch is to his less used Stealth Mode.

From there he followed the teller, keeping well out of sight in his stalking. Wilkins walked right past his home, all the way out of the hustle and bustle until he was heading towards a building that Wally knew so well it was like a punch in the gut to see it again.

It was Sam's house.

An abandoned place at the edge of the city that on occasion the Rogue could be found, chilling out. He'd been there more than once in his youth, he knew the place now like the back of his hand. It was the first trap he'd ever walked into and the first place he'd ever come face to face with one of the villains that had helped him grow from a unsure twelve year old into a proper hero, and the last place he had seen them before announcing his retirement.

A mirror image indeed.

With shaky hands he pressed the lightning bolt on his chest, letting red spread out across the black. The Scarlet Speedster took a deep breath and ran. A mantra slid through his thoughts, steadying him as he found himself surrounded by a hundred Wilkins the minute he burst through the door.

 _Not my Sam, Not my Sam, Not my Sam._

He darted through the mirrors, the illusions, skidding back at one particularly realistic T-rex. It was booby trapped up the wazoo, as usual. As usual. Not his usual, not the one he knew, _the wrong world the wrong Sam-_

His thoughts were cut off by his slamming into a formerly invisible wall, snapping his thoughts and, quite probably, his wrist. The impact sent a shower of glass down on him, slicing a thin line across his lower cheek.

Wally stood quickly, holding his arm close to his chest. Behind the wall of the mirror he found, much to his own amazement, a door. With a wooly mammoth on one side and an angry hun coming in on the other Wally did the only logical thing. He ripped the door open and pitched himself inside.

The boy took a tumble down the stairs, catching himself at the bottom. This was the basement. So, by all logic and his own experience, the breaker box was down there. Wally pulled his goggles, still ever present, down over his eyes, switching to night vision. The dark room gave way to green shapes and grainy details, which at least let him locate the power.

The box swung open, revealing the modifications that Sam had made to get it all to work. Wally ripped out wires and flipped the main switch, cutting the power to the rest of the house. The small amount of light that had followed him down disappeared.

Wally kept the goggles fixed in place as he jogged up the stairs and to the first floor. A zip around let him find Sam, cursing his head off, snapping at the controls.

Wally cleared his throat.

The man, not even in his uniform, snapped around to stare at him. The Flash crossed his arms over his chest, head tilted.

"So," he drawled, "This is the time I take you in for robbery and identity theft."

"I'm not going back to jail," he denied, chucking a remote at Wally's head. The Speedster dodged without any effort and shot forwards, spinning Sam with skill until he had him with his hands behind his back and electrical cords around his wrist. It was far too easy, showing the Rogue's inexperience, his newness to the work of fighting super heroes. It was apparent that he hadn't even discovered the mirror world yet, just his illusions and light creatures.

This was all very nostalgic, and Wally couldn't seem to meet Sam's eyes throughout the entire ordeal. It would hurt too much if he tried. This entire situation was bringing back so many memories he thought he was going to choke.

The time he actually got lost in the mirror world and Sam had to come get him out.

The memorable occasion where Sam had showed him how to light a camp fire with a shard of a mirror and nearly blinded him with it the next time.

Years spent when he and his uncles would drop by the Rogues bar and they would by him juice while they talked definitively non-business related things with Barry.

By the time he had Sam sitting in the front of the house and the police on their way to pick him and the stolen money up he was having a hard time seeing, even with his goggles.

He leaned against the beam on the porch, unaccustomed to a rogue actually cursing him, actually meaning every insult they threw.

The minute the police got a hold of his wrist Wally was gone in a blur of bright red.


	5. The Trickster and the Fastest Man Alive

**Chapter 5.**

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 **UnlockedPotential: Yeah, this one turned out a little sadder than my usual stuff. Whoops! Thank you for reviewing, hope I don't disappoint you with this one!**

* * *

Wally knew that the return, or rather the debut, of Mirror Master would only be the beginning. He would be seeing a lot of familiar faces in the future, something he had been trying to brace himself for.

It didn't do a whole lot to help, this bracing. His knowledge did work to his advantage as far as fighting them, but his personal feelings made him go easier on the villains than, well, than anyone. Even the police treated them harsher than he did.

The members of his own gallery, a mirror of his uncles almost exactly, were growing. And none of them seemed to know what to make of him. After he had gone to prison to ask of Sam's second stay was going better than his first (and been yelled at so loud he heard it through the glass) they had started to treat him wearily, like he was somehow unstable.

They were probably right, if he was being honest.

After Sam is was Hartley, then Sam escaped and got into more trouble, which inspired the weather to change. Mark popping up gave way to Len, and then came Boomer. There was the whole debacle between him and Ralph, which would have gone so much worse if Wally didn't already know he was one of the best people in the world.

He was named man of the year for his work, an honor he shared with Ralph before the latter went free-lance Super Detective. And then the day came when James joined the Gallery.

It was the thing he had been looking forward to the least.

Wally liked James, not just the James in his memory but the one in this world as well. He showed up like clockwork every Friday, ordered something insane and probably disgusting that only Wally would be able to properly build, then linger until Wally went on his break and walk with him to get his lunch. Even after he traded his job at the Deli for a position as a gofer in the CCPD Scientific Detection Bureau James would have lunch with him if they could manage between the rush of work and carnival practices.

James was a good person, even when he was having a manic episode of criminal activity. He had never hurt anyone past a sprained wrist, and that was because Wally had slipped on his marbles.

When he heard the police call for a man in floating shoes Wally knew already that he was going to have to take his friend in. He would vouch to a judge that James' bipolar disordered left him not at fault, he decided, and try to get James the help that he normally denied he needed.

After he finished dodging acid snot.

The Flash grimaced as he jumped to the side, away from the substance that was already eating a small whole through his left deltoid. It stung, bitter and hot. Blessedly he had been able to take a roll through a puddle, however unsavory it was in color.

"Come on, you're scaring the pigeons," Wally complained, gesturing the birds now angrily flapping away from the new addition to the sky.

"They're dirty birds anyway! They ate all my bread last week!"

Wally resisted the urge to remind him that he had offered the bread willingly.

"Now watch, for the greatest show ever!" James shouted, pulling a button out of his pocket. Wally let out a soft sigh. He had sneaking suspicion this had something to do with the syrup truck that went missing last week.

He ran towards the Trickster, slower than normal, with the intent to snatch the control from him. James shot acid at him, making him spin and duck away, circling him quickly in a small red tornado.

The trickster pressed the button just before Wally got it out of his hands.

The ground started shaking, sewer covers trembled and Wally had just enough time to pull James under an abandoned car before something strange and maple scented exploded from the water ways.

He grimaced when he felt it seep into his suite, sliding through the tears in it and into the open wounds that were still trying to heal.

"Dude," he complained, rolling so he could get James' hands behind his back, "That is so gross. Seriously."

"It is not!" James whined, twisting to glare at Wally through his mask, "You're mean."

"And you're a super villain," he retorted. It was only when he saw the startled smile forming that he realized what he'd said.

"I'm a super villain," James repeated, excitement in his voice, "I'm a super villain!"

Wally pursed his lips before he shook his head. "Yep, one of the worst. And now you're off to jail."

Or, preferably, a place that would get him the Ziprasidone he needed.

* * *

For a long time nothing really changed, aside from his getting a promotion at work. He was still low on cash, his Rogues were still causing mayhem and the city debated if he was really a source of good or if he was the reason the super villains popped up in the first place.

He did his best to avoid the late night talk shows.

Then came the most interesting day he had had in a very long time.

The day he raced Superman.

It was a charity event, he had insisted on that, to raise money to help feed the homeless and those in poverty. It was all set up by proxy, so the first time he officially met this worlds Superman was at the race itself, starting in metropolis.

He came into the city as a gust of wind, darting into the starting area, into lime light, the wind he kicked up sent Supermans cape up over his head.

They had meant to start half an hour ago.

"Sorry I'm late," he smiled over at the other hero, giving not even a note of actual apology in his voice, "I just woke up five minutes ago."

It was a lie. He had been awake for hours, pacing and bracing himself for this. Clark had always been nice to him, had taken him out for pie when he was young and talked about the world through super speed. He knew it would be hard to see him again.

With great deliberation Wally had slipped on a mask more potent than the cowl across his eyes. A mask of childish joy that was not entirely false. He was twenty three, still immature and playful, and no longer lost in heavy mourning. Really, it was less like a mask and more like make up, accenting his natural self so that was what people would see, rather than the slowly healing cracks underneath.

"Hey Big Guy," he turned to Superman once he had the cape back in place. "Good to see ya! Up top?" he offered his hand in a high five. When Clark when to meet it he proved himself truly a child and yanked his hand away.

"Too slow!" he teased lightly. The familiar voice of Lois Lane called to him from behind.

"Flash? Do you really think you stand a chance against the Man of Steel?" she asked, holding her microphone out to him from her place with the press. Wally grinned, idly wondering if they had hooked up yet. He hoped so, Lois had always made Clark happy.

"Man of Steel, Feet of Lead," he joked, giving a careless shrug.

He watched her smile and felt his own grow. That was what he lived for, making people smile.

"May I quote you on that?" She asked, cut off by a gust of wind caused when he appeared at her side, just a little closer to her personal space that an acquaintance would be. It was the first time he'd had the opportunity to really tease Clark in years. He was going to make the best of it.

"You can do more than that. How about an exclusive interview after the race?" he offered.

Lois quirked a brow in return to his suggestion, bringing a pencil to her lips. "Fast worker eh?"

He knew a deflection when he saw one and took a step back, politely. "Fastest Man Alive," he reminded her of the fact that he was about to prove. "Just watch, I'll run circles around this Super Slug."

To prove his point he took off, cycloning around the Big Guy himself. He got almost a dozen laps in before he was caught in the chest, not too hard thankfully, by Clark.

"Save it for the race," he advised, and Wally was delighted to a see a challenge in his eyes. He could feel it. This was going to be fun.

A throat cleared behind them, making Wally take a step back from where he'd caught himself on Supermans shoulder. Man of Steel indeed.

It was Max Brair, the man who had organized the entire thing for them and for the people who needed it. He was taller than Wally, the young man noted, and broader too, unsurprising for his Runners build. Max was known for his charity work, and Wally was proud to note that the suite he wore was several hundred dollars less than what he could have no doubt afforded. No pauper or Miser of a humble enough man who liked to help. Max was good. He wouldn't mind working with him in the future.

"Thank you both for participating in this charity event," he began, smiling warmly, "The rules of the race are simple. The first person to circle the globe a hundred time will be declared the Fastest Man Alive."

Max's assistant appear, holding up two silver arm bands that he proceeded to snap onto each hero.

"These will let us track your progress by satalite," he explained, watching Flash poke around his briefly.

"Swanky," he joked, letting his arm fall comfortably to his side.

The pair made their way to the starting point. Flash stood with his arms crossed, the picture of relaxation while Superman took a position like a high schooler on a track team. Max held up a tiny, blank filled pistol.

"On your marks. Get set…"

The sound barrier broke thrice.

Through the city they ran, Flash keeping to the insides of turns the way he knew would get him further faster. They were blurs of red and blue, shooting across concrete and around cars that seemed almost still in comparison.

Flash dropped a couple of quarters for a mother in the toll lane, caught trying to juggle a toddler and a screaming five year old while she tried to get into her purse. It cost him a half a mile, but he made up for it soon enough.

Behind them they left trails of lifted dust and ocean water, from the light side of the planet to part cast into darkness. They were nearing the Midwest when a dark storm made itself known, snow planting itself along Wally's arms. Snow. In the middle of August.

He looked up at Superman, who had taken to flying half way through their fourteenth lap. He hadn't made a fuss, he didn't mind running, though he didn't have to grab food every few hundred miles. Somewhere between Iran and Morocco Clark had started helping him out with that.

"Unusual weather we're having," he commented pointedly.

Superman looked down at him, unamused. "You had to say it," he complained when the snow only got worse.

Wally shrugged innocently. It wasn't his fault he had weather themes villains and million puns to go with them.

He had thought, at first, that they could just power through the cold. With suite was wearing thing but it would do well enough in the chill.

The temperature was proven to be the least of their worries when the wind increased to the point that Superman had to land or be blown away, and Flash found his feet slipping backwards on the frosted terra.

Horror crossed his face when he realized that ice was forming on his arms and legs, and Supermans too, until they were stuck, truly stuck, in a small glacier. There was only one person who could do this. The Weather Wizard. Wally held his breath, trying push away the panic and remind himself that he could vibrate his molecules now. That he wasn't the slowest Flash that he was The Flash.

He stumbled through the melted ice, his lips a definitive blue when he saw them in the quickly refreezing puddle on the ground.

He stood, looking around. When he saw Superman breakthrough he applauded, hiding that he had ever been worried in the first place. "Bravo," he called, leaning back on a frost covered tree. Moving every part of you at supersonic speeds was harder than it sounded.

Superman looked up from where he was sucking in air on his knees, confusion clear. "How did you…"

"I just vibrated my molecules until the ice melted," he said casually, as if it weren't one of the greatest accomplishments he'd ever had.

Superman nodded his understanding. Wally was moving from foot to foot when he offered his hand to the Man of Steel, hoisting him up from the snow.

"Where did all of this come from?" he asked, looking around them.

Wally wished he could still run his hand through his hair. "My guess? Weather Wizard."

"But how did he know where to send it?" Clark pressed. "At the speed we were going you would need pinpoint accuracy to drop the temperature so much in one concentrated area-" he stopped, blue eyes going wide.

Wally spun to him, their epiphany the same. "The arm bands!" they chorused.

Both men tore them off, Wally dropping his in the snow while Superman crushed his.

"The question now it, what next?" Superman asked.

Wally frowned, crossing his arms. "We're still obligated to finish the race," he reminded him, "But if he was trying to take us out, then I guarantee that something else it going on too. Mark is an extortionist, he never does something unless he gets something for it. "

Superman nodded. "Do you know where he is?"

"Not right now," Wally admitted, "He was in jail until a few days ago, when he broke out. We've been waiting for him to make a move ever since. I guess this is it."

"What does he normally want?"

"Typically? Money. I mean, once he tried to get a small country to hand over their sovereignty but after he saw the work that went into it he gave up on that."

Superman's scowl appeared. "Where is the biggest gathering of money right now, that he would need us away from. "

Wally's heart dropped. "The charity event! We have to get back."

Superman agreed. Not without a smirk aimed at Wally as his feet lifted off the ground. "I'll race you back."

The younger hero grinned hugely. "You're on!"

* * *

With help from one of Superman's army friends the pair was able to track the threatening video sent to Metropolis, one featuring Mark demanding a million dollars. He was holed up in an abandoned house out in the country, doing things long distance. It was weird, Wally was used to direct confrontations with him.

The building had him nervous, it was too sunny, too inconspicuous. Something had to be wrong.

"I'll go first," Wally said quickly, "My Rogue, my responsibility."

He was gone before Superman could get his objections all the way out. Wally regretted his hast when he was hit by lightning, not even once, but three times. Mark's aim had greatly improved, he learned.

He was cursing when Superman pulled him from the electric shocks target practice, foul words his mother would have washed his mouth out if she knew he used them.

"Lighting too?" Superman asked.

Wally nodded, leaning against the Man of Steel. "Lightning, wind, rain, hail. Anything and everything. Weather is his weapon."

Superman set Wally on the ground, letting him brace his arms on his knee. "Take it easy," he ordered, "I'll try and find another way in."

Wally could only nod as he tried to regain his baring, berating himself for being so careless. Just because they were less practiced than he was used to didn't mean he should be underestimating his villains. They were serious about this, they weren't his friends anymore, sans James, and maybe Hartley. They weren't going to hold back on his account.

Wally stood up at last, shaking the last of the lightning from his limbs before he took the tunnel Superman had created into the house.

Not a moment too soon by the look of the electrocuted Kryptonian on the ground. The Flash ran forwards, knocking the wand from Mark's hand and driving his elbow into the man's gut, sending him to the floor.

Unfortunately, Wally's luck had never been that great with lightning, and his actions only ended up causing the electricity to surround the suspended globe in the center of the room, the wand going off without anyone there to stop it.

Mark's horror was the first sign that a little electricity and some wind weren't the worst to come. He tried to reach his wand but couldn't make it before the small stick was picked up by the forming vortex of raw energy, sucked up seconds before Mark was.

Heart pounding loudly Wally leapt on instinct, grabbing Marks arm and pulling him close. Wally twisted them until he was acting as a shield, until he would be the first one sucked into the brilliant light that would possibly kill them. Mark gripped the superhero, eyes searching for something. Wally could only assume it was his wand.

In the reflection of the window Wally caught sight of the sphere, shrinking and flickering from white to black and back.

A strong arm wrapped around his middle, pulling the young man into the air with more purposed the any wind could. He braced himself as Superman pulled both of the Central Natives out of the house, just in time for the whole thing to explode.

Wally stared open-mouthed at the silver beam of light the shot towards the sky, stretching out at the troposphere and banishing all the surrounding clouds.

* * *

Wally sat with Mark in the precinct while they waited for Superman to finish giving his testimony, the both of them bandaged from their injuries. Mark kept looking at him like he was some foreign creature until finally Wally couldn't take it.

"What?" he demanded, looking over at the older- no, no they were the same age now.

"You tried to save me," he said, like he couldn't really believe it. "After I tried to kill you. Five times!"

"Oh." Wally shrugged. "Well yeah, I don't want you to get hurt. Just because you hate me doesn't mean the feeling is mutual."

Mark didn't say anything after that, just stood up and walked with the officers to his cell, his face twisted with contemplation. Wally wished him well and turned, joining Superman on the way out of the prison.

They were out of the court yard when Superman stopped and turned to him, making Wally still a heartbeat.

"You know Flash," he began, "When we met this morning I thought you were nothing more than an immature child."

Wally frowned, shifting self-consciously. "And now?" he prompted, dreading the answer.

"You're okay," he said, then held up his hand. "Up high?" he offered.

Wally grinned and lunged to the high five, only to fall flat on his face when it was yanked away from him.

Superman smiled down at him, eyes alight.

"Too slow."


	6. Justice League: Part 1

**Finally, an update!**

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 **Guest from September 19** **th** **: Thank you, I definitely will!**

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 **Brand L: Thank you very much! It's always bugged me too, but it is consistent with the comics I guess. If only Barry could see him now!**

 **Guest from October 6** **th** **: Nostalgia is always fun to write. Thanks for reviews!**

 **Tmae3114: Oh my god. You're words and thoughts have completely blown me away, I don't even know how to respond to so much support! Thank you so very much for taking the time to write out all of that and for letting me know how you think I'm doing. Thank you for the details and effort you put into your review! I've been trying really hard on this and you and all the other reviewers make it worth the effort. Thank you, again!**

 **Guest from October 14** **th** **: Is this soon enough?**

 **pottyandweezlbe89: Is your name a Harry Potter reference?**

 **Chapter 6: Justice League, Part 1**

* * *

Martians didn't exist.

The fact was both relieving and depressing. He could handle seeing Clark and his Rogues as they were, but he didn't know if he could live with seeing his old teammates yet. He hadn't seen any sign of Dick beyond his family's circus act, and he had never even spoken to this worlds Ollie so even with the new arrival of Speedy he was largely unaffected beyond the ever present temptation to see them, to make sure they were okay. It was overwhelming protective instinct that tried to convince him to go out and collect the orphaned bastards that had once been his greatest friend.

He was selfish for wanting to. He was even more selfish for not.

He just, couldn't take it. Financially he was barely stable enough to keep himself clothed and fed. Mentally and emotionally he didn't think he even was stable.

So he left them to their fates and let the guilt and longing eat away at his intestines, no doubt well on their way to giving him an ulcer.

Martians didn't exist, Gotham was still dark, and Themyscira was nowhere to be found outside of mythology books, and Atlantis was the same. It took Wally some time to accept all of this as fact, or at least as popularly believed truth.

It turns out that the acceptance was useless.

When the familiar presence brushed against the edge of his consciousness he actually fell forwards, pitching over his own feet. Instead of punching Mick he ended up falling into the pyromaniacs arms instead. He got a burnt cheek when his face connected with the fire suit, only the friction resistance the Micks own mercy keeping him from lighting on fire when the (now barely) older man caught the speedster in his arms.

Wally looked up at him, vaguely realizing that Heat Wave had managed to burn off part of the top of his cowl enough to reveal flaming red hair.

"Did you hear that?" he asked. His voice cracked.

Mick paled.

After he had fallen victim to a panic attack a few months earlier during the Rogues first official attempt on his life that had all been weird around him. Only James had known how to react, fetching the paper bag and making Wally put his arms above his head before he started asphyxiating, the rest had stood by, too stunned by the emotional break to help or harm. Since then they had been going strangely easy on him, even Boomer, who used to be an actual hit man, hadn't been going for the throat since then.

Wally cleared his throat and stood up. Mick backed up as soon as Wally wasn't going to hit the ground.

"I didn't hear anything," he said carefully, like maybe Wally was crazier than James. James ran around with gags and laughs and too much cheer when he was in his high points. He didn't hear voices that weren't there.

Wally didn't want to either but he knew, _knew_ what he'd felt. And what he felt wasn't possible. There were no Martians here that would try to make contact with him.

A phantom hand brushed against his mind again.

Wally rubbed the side of his head. His heart was pounding in his chest. It wasn't M'gann, he knew her minds touch. This was weaker, though much more refined.

"Hey, Mick, could we pick this back up in a few days?" he asked. Wally fully expected the pyromaniac to deny his request, to aim his flame thrower and kick their fight right back where it started.

Instead he looked away and lifted a shoulder.

"I've got Thursday free?"

Wally could have laughed in relief. As it was he grinned hugely. The Rogues were starting to treat him with casual friendliness when they weren't walking on egg shells around him. It made him irrationally happy.

"I'll bring coffee!" he declared. In a second he had clapped Mick on the shoulder and spun towards where the mental hand was starting to tug him.

"See you Thursday!"

* * *

The pull lead him all the way across the country. From the middle of Missouri to Nevada. Nevada, of course it was Nevada.

 _Area fricking fifty one. With Jack Frost visiting._

Wally sighed softly and increased his already break-neck pace. He could see explosions rocking around, or really just one. He knew the air craft that was plummeting out of the sky.

The Bat-Wing.

Wally shot forwards, intent on getting in and pulling Bruce out. He only slowed when he saw a GL, John by the lack of wise cracks and lapels.

So that gave them John, Shayera, Clark, Bruce, and… There was Diana, blocking lasers.

With no foot hold in the sky Wally made a detour to where one of the plane's wings had been clipped and snagged it, running with the bulky piece of metal towards Bruce. It would be the first time they'd ever truly spoken now.

Wally swallowed thickly before he opened his mouth.

"Hey Bats!" he shouted over the wind he created, gaining the attention of the Dark Knight. Grinning falsely he set the wing down next to his old friend with a somewhat less boisterous, "I think you dropped this."

Jokes. Jokes were good. Flirting was good. It was mindless and easy and he didn't need to see Dick, Cassie and Conner standing next to their mentors when he made them.

Flirting. Diana had always shot things down well. He turned to eye the princess purposefully.

"Where have you been all my life?" aside from another dimension where she'd taught him to use his nimble body to the advantage, when she'd taught him real manners and curbed his flirting habits from creepy to just silly.

He waited for her to give him The Look. The hand-on-hip, eyebrow-cocked, somewhat-amused-but-mostly-exasperated Look.

"Themyscira."

Wally didn't have to fake his confused, 'huh?'. There was no way she had just gotten off the island. He had accepted that she wasn't public, had gone along with the lack of Amazon fact, but Diana had worked for the government for years in World War two before she went out with the Justice Society of America.

Was it possible she had just left her home for the first time?

Wally shook his head and turned to the descending Green Beings.

John looked the same as ever, severe and stern.

J'onn, on the other hand…

He was wearing less, was the first thing Wally realized. His chin was more squared here, and there were shadows around his eyes that had not been present in Wally's original home. Even his cape was different, less stream lined and more Shakespearean-queen styled.

Shayera was different too. Her helmet was the same, but that was about it. Her hair was lighter, more orange that brown. And she wasn't wearing any of her armor. Not on her winger, which were more ash than brown, and lacked the strong, gold metal that had stretched across their tops while he was growing up. She was less serious too, the curve of her mouth was easier.

He didn't see Katar around, which was a little weird. They were normally inseparable.

Or maybe not in this world. On the news feeds for the past few months Shayera had been missing her husband.

She was talking to him, where ever Katar was.

"It's the home of the Amazons," she said, "I always thought it was a legend."

Wally frowned ever so slightly. So maybe this world wasn't so different after all, if it was hidden by the gods the way Diana said it was.

When Clark looked over at him Wally smiled and waved. He had to be his usual self, now more than ever.

"I am Diana, princess of the Amazons," Wonder Woman was announcing.

Wally swooned against Clark exaggeratedly. "Pinch me, I'm dreaming."

He yelped when the Man of Steel elbowed him. He pouted up at Clark who smiled teasingly down at him. They'd become good friends since the Race, which was kind of weird since he'd once been half his age and a mega nerd fan boy. Never the less, Clark was a good person and he would have Wally's back if push came to shove.

"Themyscira is protected by the gods but I could not stand by while the rest of the world was in danger," Diana was explaining. Wally's smile was more genuine that time. Diana was young now, her naivety was clear just from this brief exchange. It was the more surreal thing he'd ever known, being as old as his former mentors and having more experience than all of them.

"It's lucky that you came by when you did," Clark said.

J'onn shook his head. "Not luck. I called her telepathically to come to our aid."

"Look," Wally stepped forwards, "I'm usually pretty quick on the uptake but would someone please tell me what's going on. Aside from some alien invasion." He knew most things. He knew Martians and Amazons and Thanagarians, he knew his Rogues, and he knew these heroes. He did not know the ships that were burning on the ground.

J'onn's chin dropped and Wally was struck. The change was subtle, most people would have missed it. Wally was good at reading people though, Martians included. What he saw was pure sorrow.

The speedster's heart clenched and he wished he could pluck the words back out of the air. It wasn't that important.

Nothing warranted putting that expression on someone's face.

* * *

When everyone else was staring at the massive cloud of dust that rose from the nearest city Wally hung back and watched them instead of the storm. He knew alien invasions. They didn't go like this. Not right off at least. There were already agents on earth and they wouldn't just be in the white house or in some satellite monitoring centers.

His teeth clicked together nervously. Even if they stopped the big ones and ended the hold on the astronauts there would still be more. He didn't know how they were going to find them all. J'onn would probably have a better idea.

J'onn.

Wally's heart ached for the Martian he had known and for this new green man he had just met. He knew better than anyone what if felt like to have your world ripped away from you by invaders, what it was to lose everything trying to save the people you loved.

Wally's eyes stung. He would have cried if he wasn't all out of tears.

"What are they doing?" Shayera asked, her sharp eyes fixed on the horizon. Lightning was sparking out of the cloud, towards the sky. That was never a good sign.

"The invaders have begun. They are nocturnal, they are trying to block out the sun so they can move freely."

Wally tilted his head to Bruce. "Relatives of yours?"

True to form the Bat frowned at him.

"It's no joke."

Wally rolled his eyes behind the cowl and push passed the others until he was standing in front of them, and just behind J'onn. He got closer to the Martian than was strictly necessary, an automatic offering of comfort and comradery. The barely present touch to his mind was still there, and Wally held on to that as well the way he had so many times with M'gann.

J'onn looked over at him in surprise.

Wally made sure not to let his thoughts slip out, his secrets still held firmly in the back of his mind. After Psimon they had all learned to do it.

"Can you make more of the nerve gas you used before?" he asked hopefully.

J'onn's face fell to neutral once more, his surprise leaving.

"No. The gas can only be made with a rare Martial plant. I brought a sample with me but it was destroyed when I was captured."

Wally's shoulders slumped. The speedster looked back at the other.

"What's plan B?" There had to be a plan. If no one else had one, Batman would. He built contingency plans upon contingency plans. If it really came to it Wally could come up with something, but if he was being honest he was emotionally compromised right then, even after two years of being there, and probably shouldn't be making any big decisions.

Diana, who had the most military training of any of them, propped her hands on her hips. "We need to take out those walking monstrosities."

John, who had the second most military training, frowned over at her. "Lady, this is no job for amateurs."

Wally cringed his sympathy when Diana turned to John, blue eyes blazing.

"We Amazons are warriors born! Want to test me?" she challenged.

The speedster zipped between them.

"Hey, hey, come on," he placed a hand on both of their shoulders. "She's already helped out, and she's here. So what if she hasn't been flying around as long as you? We could use all the help we can get," he tried to pacify.

John yanked his shoulder out from under Wally's hand and turned away with a huff. Diana looked smug.

Wally took his hands back to himself, satisfied. His heart was hurting again.

"Sorry _, your highness_ ," John's sarcasm has Clark and Wally sighing at once. "If we're going to do this we're going to have multiple objectives. So we need to split into teams."

Wally looked around. Batman was the smartest, and Superman the strongest and the best he knew. Shayera would be flying, so if he was with her he could be ground support. John he knew would be sending out orders, something Wally wasn't always good at following. J'onn could potentially read his mind and he wasn't sure how much he liked that idea. And Diana…

She was the greenest. He was the most experienced. The protective pull he felt towards her was startling.

"Dibs on the Amazon!"


	7. Justice League: Part 2

**Holy hell that's so many reviews! I guess I should start with an apology for taking longer than I would have liked, but I got a job so I've been busy!**

 **Now, onwards!**

 **Reviews;**

 **UnlockedPotential: Oh my goodness do I love Terry! He's by far my favorite Batman. I love Bruce, honest, but Terry is just more fun. Thank you for liking my writing!**

 **authorwannabe101:You're very welcome! I really like the Rogues and watching the series again from my new writing perspective is going to be super painful but very fun!**

 **Tigergirl1723: You may be a little disappointed here…**

 **pottyandweezlebe89: Protective Wally is the best Wally! That sounds like Peeves, really.**

 **Regin: Is this soon enough?**

 **Guest from October 23: Here it is!**

 **duskrider: OH a lot is going to happen with Cadmus already!**

 **Shiloh Ferris: Thank you very much!**

 **Lumina Balderson: Holy shit now I have to do that.**

 **Lucas: Thank you! I was in major denial after the finale so I found a way to fix it.**

 **book-zealot: Thank you so much! I'm glad you thought I did well. And yes, the Speed Force was what sucked him in! Plus, let speedsters to support in that dimension, more speed for just one maybe? I don't know yet.**

 **potterinu: yes and no? I'm going to be incorporating episodes but it isn't just going to be a total retelling. I think that would be boring. We really don't have a lot of info on the side kicks in this dimension, just that Roy is as sunny as ever by Unlimited and the Titans and Static exist. So I'll work on it.**

 **MyNameIsWolf: Its totally an actual don't you burst my delusional bubble!**

 **Guest from November 1: Thank you very much! Something similar may happen?**

 **Tmae3114: Oh my god you write such a long review I actually had to say it was okay for it to post, do you know that that's never happened to me before? Thank you so much for all of that, and I'm very glad to know that I'm getting the characters right, I always worry that I'm overstepping with them. As for Waller, that lady is going to be a handful.**

 **ninjawriter2: Thank you so much! Your When is Warranted, I promise. I hope it meets expectations.**

 **Guest from November 18: … There may or may not be a ninja in Central City. Who's to say?**

 **saya4haji: I don't know why but I want to say your name is a Blood Plus reference. Anyways, thanks a ton! It's a lot of fun to write!**

* * *

It was like something out of an apocalypse movie. The city was a disaster, which was a lot coming from someone who had grown up fighting and seen everything from pick pockets to a new moon armed with nuclear warheads. The sky had darkened with storm and smog, buildings were crumbling all around in a forewarning of what the rest of the world might soon look like. Filled with hopelessness and looters taking what they could in what they thought were their last moments.

It wasn't all bad. Everytime something horrible happened, there would always be people willing to step up just as there were always those that would simply step aside. Determination and kindness were strong in human beings as selfishness and cruelty.

The part of Wally that was still a college graduate in debt wondered if anyone would miss half a grocery store when this was all over.

The Scarlet Speedster zipped through the wreckage, freeing those who needed it alongside John, who had ended up being his partner instead of Diana. He was only a little disappointed. John he barely knew, which was easier on him emotionally, and Diana could take care of herself. Even if she was so _young_. By then, Wally was sure she was younger than he was in terms of true life experience.

If that wasn't weird, he didn't know what was.

It was interesting, he decided, actually being fast enough to run all the way up buildings instead of loosing momentum halfway.

"What did you call us back for?" John asked J'onn once he had landed with them on the room.

The call had come not long ago, through a small mental nudge nothing like M'gann's Link, that they needed to return.

So they had left their fights and come running to help with whatever it was.

They found only J'onn and Diana.

Worry twisted Wally's stomach when he couldn't find Clark, Shayera, or Bruce anywhere. They should have been called too, right? Clark was their heavy hitter, Bruce was as smart as they came and Shayera was by far the most deadly member of their company.

So where were they?

Diana stepped past Wally and pointed to one the hulking harbingers of distruction on the other side of the city. Wally stomach dropped.

"Superman has been captured. He's trapped somewhere inside there with Hawkgirl."

The name was still throwing him off. 'Hawkgirl' sounded like Shayera and Katar's daughter, not the fierce warrior he knew.

More importantly, the invaders had captured Superman. They had Clark.

Wally's face fell. Beyond his closing throat all he could get out was, "whoa."

"And what about Batman?" John asked. Wally turned to them, hope threading its way into his chest. He probably had a plan. He had just run off without a word to do it, the way he always did. That was it, right?

If that was it, why did Diana look so sad?

"He acted heroically, 'till the very end."

Wally's pulse came to a complete halt. He stumbled away as tears pricked his eyes from behind his mask. That wasn't possible. There had to be a mistake, Batman didn't just _die_. It wasn't in his nature. He was too smart, too stubborn. He had contingency plans for contingency plans!

"The Bat's gone?" his voice actually cracked. This wasn't happening.

It wasn't happening.

It wasn't-

"This is not good," John's voice was grim. "Definitely not good."

* * *

Distractions he could do.

Hell, distractions were one of his specialties, along with eating twenty pizza's in one sitting and improvising Christmas trees.

So when John told him to distract the tower that guarded the fortress, he knew he was able. And, it allowed him to distract himself from the horrible ache of loss. Even if they had only 'met' a few hours ago, a dead Bruce was still a dead Bruce. He had to keep reminding himself that they weren't the same people, this Bruce and his worlds, all through the time he was throwing together a convenience store aisle of chemicals and some electronics to hide under a large slab of concrete.

The rock in his hand went sailing so hard it actually dented the outer shell of the alien creature.

Wally didn't have time to be impressed with himself, he was busy waving his arms up and down, shouting for attention. When a beam shot out at him he darted away in a blur of red, blowing a raspberry as soon as he stopped and running again when it fired at him a second time.

The Speedster stopped to lean on a rock. He shouted loudly, "Not even close! Come on slowpoke I dare ya, over here!"

It was practically suicidal, what he was doing, even with his speed. One slip up and he was gone for good.

Really, he'd taken on worse. The Injustice League, The Light, The actual Justice League. Alien invasions, by then, were just par for the course.

Except no other alien invasion had killed Batman.

He was so distracted with his thoughts that he almost didn't run away in time to avoid being smashed. The explosive he'd managed to cobble together did it's work and blew up one of the three legs the creature possessed.

He whistled loudly, his act still up. "You really stepped in it that time."

The others were probably already in, or at least he hoped. He wasn't sure this thing was incapable of regeneration of bipedal mobility.

When the second theory was proven just as wrong as the first he waved with a cheerful, "Bu'bye," before vanishing in a blur of speed. There were onlookers around. He couldn't let on how bad things were. They needed, above all else, hope.

He would not let that disappear.

The Flash had always been the embodiment of hope for people, that laughing, easy to talk to hero that was always, always there. The one that would stop a bank heist and get a cat out a tree for the third time that week and still find a way to entertain a bridge full of stand-still traffic at rush hour.

He was the joyful streak of crimson that always had a way to lighten the mood, a way to worm his way into the hearts of those around him. Even the ones blackened by evil.

That was what the Flash was. It was what he did.

Wally had known that the day he took on the Mantel and he knew it the day he went rushing into an alien factory, determined to help his friends.

The Speed Force hummed beneath his skin, sparking through his nerves in preparation for what he was ready to do.

To fight.

To win.

* * *

When the day was saved and the skeleton of a team had formed it was, to the surprise of everyone, Wally that left first.

He had to, he just couldn't handle it any more. Clark was hard enough to be around, he could have even stuck around Shayera and Diana for a while him. But Bruce, honestly, truly, _alive_ Bruce-

Was _killing_ _him_.

Bruce, who here had never had a Robin, who had yet to find a lost little circus boy to take in and shelter, to love and protect. Bruce who's sass showed through more with him now than when he was a teenager.

Bruce, who he had so many memories of it was a wonder J'onn hadn't picked up a wisp of one when it tried to tear itself free in an anguished wail. He'd had time to get used to seeing Barry at work, only every now and again, but Bruce...

It was almost as hard as the first and only time he'd tried to talk to his dad.

He was halfway back home when a strong hand covered his shoulder. Familiar in its weight and kindness. Wally knew it before he turned to see the bright blue eyes of a Kansas farm boy, peering at him in concern. It made his stomach turn with how much it was like Conner's worried look, back when he was a teenager.

"Hey, Big Guy," he greeted, slowing them to a stop somewhere in between their respective home cities. There was conveniently placed car corpse for him to sit on. They weren't quite far enough west for it to have survived abandonment without rust, but it was sturdy enough to hold up his already slight frame. Speedsters in general weighed very little, all things considered. As strong as they were they were built as runners, all compact, wiry muscle made for speed and resistance.

"Flash," Clark sat beside him, elbows braced on his knees, "What's going on?"

Wally sent him a funny look, trying to play it off like there was nothing wrong with him, like his heart wasn't beating too fast and his breath wasn't coming to harshly. It was just too much at once, too much like the last invasion he'd thwarted, surrounded by painful reminders of all he had lost.

"Well, we just kicked alien butt is what's going on!" for an instant, just an instant, his voice had dropped like he would say truth. Instead, he went with a lie. "I'm going back to celebrate with a large cheese pizza and maybe a few bags of Dorito's."

The look on Clark's face made it clear he wasn't buy Wally's shit.

The superhero sighed and slumped forwards. A strong hand rested between his shoulder blades, a comfort he didn't mind. Subconsciously, he even leaned into it.

"The truth?" Superman pressed.

"The truth…" God, which one? The one where he was actually a dead man from another dimension? The one where he still slept with Flash Themed night light because his missed his room at home?

"It was close," he said at last. "This time, it was closer than it's ever been before. And we both know that things never get easier in this Life." There was no way out of it either.

He'd tried, for years he'd tried to live normally, to be happy with Artemis. They had been so close. So very close to being out for good and being regular people, just college kids, no superpowers, no responsibilities besides paying bills.

But thing about being a hero was, once you stepped in, you never got out.

"We did it though," Clark was saying. He was a strong, solid presence next to Wally. A brick wall of self-assured confidence and absolution in the light of tomorrow.

"This time," Wally could help it. The words just slipped out.

Clarks surprise was warranted.

After all, the Flash was bright, brilliant and happy. He was an optimist, never to be brought down or slowed by the troubles of the world around him. He flirted, he sprinted, he struck bad poses on TVs and spent Christmas in an orphanage.

He didn't worry about tomorrow, he didn't get close to breaking down because the world almost ended.

Actually, he really didn't get close to breaking down because the world almost ended. It did that all the time, it had all his life. The apocalypse had been going on for longer than he could remember, one disaster, one super villain after another in a never ended march of Doom. It was the norm he had been born into.

Like his uncle had always said, the world is always in danger.

"We'll save it again next time too," Clark said firmly, as if reading his mind. "And the time after that, and the one after that. And if we can't, then someone else will step up after us. This world is full of heroes. Not all of them wear capes."

 _No capes, no tight. No offense_.

Wally really didn't want to start crying right then. The stress was building up on his shoulders, threatening to crush him in fresh waves of grief and pain.

For the first time in a long time his mind was invaded by Want. He wanted to be physics student at Stanford again with a double major in forensic science. He wanted to go back to Palo Alto and push Brucley off the couch so he and Artemis could watch a ninja romance movie. He wanted to Zeta to the Cave and pall around with Garfield and Conner. He wanted to run to Blood Haven, drape himself over Dick's couch and quote the Titanic.

More than anything else, he wanted to go home.

Home, to his Bruce, and his Diana and Shayera and John and everyone else.

He wanted to go back.

Weakly, he managed a smile at Clark. He'd thought he was over these useless thoughts.

"All men dream," Wally said slowly, "but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible."

While Clark stared at him Wally propped his chin on his fist. "You're a dangerous guy, Supes." This, he said with great cheer.

Another quote slipped into his mind, one he kept to himself. One he had kept close to his heart for a great many years, since he'd found it in his freshman English text book.

Humor is one of the most important things on a big expedition. When you're in a difficult or dangerous situation, or when you're depressed about the chances of success, someone who can make you laugh eases the tension.

Edmund Hilary was right, of course. That was what Wally did all the time. He eased the tension, he brightened the mood, even at the cost of his dignity.

In some ways, he figured that was as important as what Batman did. Planning and planning and planning some more, taking into account every little detail. Wally could never do that.

Even still, giving orders to hopeless troops would never do anyone any good. So he provided hope, or if nothing else he offered a break from despair.

"I have heard that I can leap tall buildings in a single bound," Clark grinned at him. Wally made a play that his mood was lifting, adjusting his shoulders and straightening up accordingly.

It became genuine a second later when he realized something.

The reason Clark was there.

Not because he had to be, not because Wally was in danger and he was obligated.

He was there because he cared.

He cared about the speedster and his general wellbeing enough to break the sound barrier and go after him just to see how he was.

Wally hadn't been so touched by a gesture in a long time.

Someone cared.

No one had said it since he'd got there, not in the whole three years had words been uttered that could have even been mistaken for it, yet here he was, being cared about by Superman.

And what about others? What about James, who kept him breathing and calm when everyone else froze?

What about Mick, who had agreed to put off his villainy just because Wally was hearing voices?

Did they care?

Was he just too dense to notice it before?

"We'll be fine," he said at last. He slipped off the care, starting to feel just a little better with his newfound knowledge.

Clark practically beamed down at him.

"Yes," he agreed, "Yes we will."


	8. Almost's, Maybe's and Beginnings

**isadorator: You're welcome!**

 **potterinu: ... son of a bitch I forgot about Batman's show. Oh boy, we're bending timelines around here people!**

 **tigergirl1723: Thank you! It's a lot of fun trying to insert how Wally feels in this!**

 **Awesomesupergirl123: Thank you so much, please don't cry! Crying isn't all that fun.**

 **Golly: Thank you!**

 **Kit: I've never actually heard the Uncharted 3 trailer before so I can't say that you're wrong or right! It won't diverge for a while, I'm working on other parts of it, but it will get there. It just takes time to set everything up.**

 **XLR8: I'm glad you like it! I'll try and keep making this one a good one.**

 **dragonlovewater: I have so much fun writing sadness! And it only get worse!**

 **little miss BANANA HEAD: Thank you so very much! I hope this is a good chapter to!**

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 **Kole2298: I don't really time my updates, they just come up and go.**

 **Tmae: Yeah, I had to clear that this review was okay too! It's crazy, I don't even understand. I do know how Dick's city is spelled but my computer isn't buying it. (Yet it will spell your name just fine…) No, your second spelling is the right one, the one with the two dots? That's actually called an umlaut, a German punctuation that changes the pronunciation. So instead of being pronounced Blood, the way a lot of people do, it would actually be pronounced differently. Your lips would still be shaped like an O but your tongue would move like you were pronouncing the sound of U to a first grader, to form a sound that is never made in the English language. German lesson of the day. Speaking of languages, you can repeat words as much as you want when you're leaving a freaking page long review! You've nearly brought me to tears with your words and your support, I hope you know. It amazing to get an email that won't load all of the words a review is so long!**

 **Nikira: Oh my god I love all those references! I'm glad you're enjoying it all!**

* * *

Wally hadn't been on the Watch Tower in a long time.

He'd never been on this one, actually. Unlike the one in his home, this new creation wasn't made of a refurbished meteor rock. In truth it was entirely artificial. Wally had no idea how it had been set up so quickly, having been called there less than a month after the invasion.

Then again, it was made by the Dark Knight. Anything was possible for him.

It was totally different from what he knew. The corridors were long, leading off into gyms and medical bays, bedrooms of all things too. One for each of them. It made Wally wonder what Bruce was preparing for. What he was planning on this time, for there was always a plan. A long term one, and about a million smaller ones. It was one of the most amazing things about him.

The red head ran his inspection, looking for anything familiar. The garden, the Zeta Bay, the Library.

Well, maybe not the Zeta Bay. There was no Zeta Bay. No like he knew.

One of the things that surprised him the most about this watch tower was how he got there. All he had done was stand in an alley, the way the message from Batman had said, and he was sucked right off the earth like it was scene in Star Trek.

He finally understood how Shatner felt.

They were going to get so tired of his Scotty jokes, and Lustra's song hadn't even come out yet.

So sick of it.

He wouldn't get sick of how easy the transport was. No more running into secret bases or phone booths, no more poking into ally's and making sure no one was there to see. He had no clue how it worked but hell if he wasn't going to find out. The scientist he had always been was demanding it. How did the beams find him without a guide? How did it know to take all of his molecules to one of the seven platforms that were positions in circles in the new Watchtower.

With his mind running almost as fast as his feet Wally almost forgot to stop before he ended up going through a wall.

That is, until he caught the scent of food.

It had him turning down a hall and into sliding door before he had even processed what it smelled like. Burgers and pizza and citrus. Coffee.

The room beyond was a kitchen and dinning room put together. With stainless steel counter tops it was also fully equipped with cooking and eating utensils, and the fridge was completely stocked, as well as the freezer and every cupboard.

Wally's stomach growled angrily at him.

He'd only had two breakfast burrito's and a sandwich that morning, thanks to his budget being so tight. He was almost always hungry these days.

The Watchtower was starting to feel more like a boarding house than the Base of Operations by the time Wally had inhaled half the food stock and gone on his way to find the others, an iced mocha in each hand. Only he and Diana actually liked them.

It was a little ironic when he almost ran into her on his way to find someone who knew what was really going on. He smiled at her, as flirtatious as he could be with someone who had trained him not to die.

"Hey, Wonder Woman," he drew his words out, casual as could be, "Have you ever tried one of these?" he asked, holding out the cup to her. It was still cold in his hands, thankfully.

Diana took the plastic cup from him, looking over it curiously. "I don't believe that I have," she admitted, her words still formal and spaced. As royal as her Cumberbatch sharp cheekbones. When she turned them into chipmunks instead with her sucking up and her eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas Wally knew he'd picked the right thing.

His Diana had liked Mocha's too. And Caramel.

"Good, right? C'mon, let's go see what the Bat wanted to talk to us about," he encouraged, gesturing down the hallway to the where he knew Bruce and Clark were. He'd seen them go in earlier.

"Probably he wanted to talk about this station he's built," Diana concluded. At least she was picking up the names for things she didn't know before. Wally smiled a little. She had a long was to go, but it was already coming along. Now if only he could get her to combine her words more her speech pattern would be a lot more fluid.

 _Baby steps, Wally. Baby steps._

The pair strode to the elevator that would take them to their friends, Wally chatting up a storm about nothing in particular. Comparing two coffee types or something. He was barely paying attention himself, his brain was already running away again. Maybe he had developed even worse ADD since his arrival.

They walking into a bay of wide windows just in time for the tail of a speech to strike them the same time the view did. The earth stretched out before them, green and blue and beautiful, while the Bat's voice carried to their ears.

"This Watchtower will act as our Early Warning System, detecting other threats that come from space," he was saying.

To make sure everyone knew that they were there, Wally tossed in, " _And_ it has a fully stocked kitchen. Er, had."

He couldn't find it in him to worry very much about the cost of food. God knew Bruce could afford to him better than he himself could.

Even though he knew Clark didn't like sweets he offered him his untouched cup. "Iced Mocha?" he asked, right before a memory slapped him in the face.

 _He's sixteen, sitting in a mall Starbucks. There's a cup in his hand and his boy sitting in front of him, at a table, staring around them with wonder and weariness in equal measures. He doesn't have a name yet, so Wally can't call it. Instead he thrusts the chilled cup in front of pretty, baby blue eyes. His lashes should have been on a girl, they were so long._

 _They were also now boring into him with such an intensity Wally was pulling back his hand before he was stopped. The coffee was stolen, or not since he'd offered. His hand warmed up a little just at it's lack._

 _His friend, or will be in the future, in sucking in the coffee through a straw already in. His face twists and he puts it down quickly._

" _Too cold," he declares, "And too sweet. You like that?"_

 _Wally is defensive. His arms cross, his cheeks burn the way his hair does, damn his skin and teenaged self consciousness._

" _You d-_

-on't have these on Themyscira," Diana snapped him away from his thoughts. He was at her side as quick as could be.

"Stick with me, I'll show you the ropes." On instinct it came out as flirting but honestly, it was a real offer. He knew what it was like adjusting to a world you knew nothing about, even if his case was different, and he wanted so badly to pay this Diana back for everything her other dimensional counterpart had done for him in his life.

"Perhaps I will," she says, her voice softening. It makes his chest warm with familiar care. He didn't like her, not in a romantic way. She was too young, too sweet and fierce all at once. He wasn't going to get involved with her, especially not when she barely knew what a man was, let alone what it meant to go out with one. Or even if she liked them.

She needed time to learn and grow. Then, maybe, he might actually pursue her beyond play and instruction.

John spoke from above them then, his voice just as strong and militaristic as ever.

"Impressive instillation," he said, floating down with Shayara flanking him on the right. "Most impressive. But what's it got to do with us?"

Wally had a sneaking suspicion he knew.

He readied his best quips.

They all disappeared when he saw how somber Clark was. He turned from them, towards the earth, his head bowed.

"I once thought I could do everything by myself," he admitted slowly, "but last week, working together, we saved the planet. And I believe that if we stay together, as a team, we will be a force that could truly work for the ideals of peace, and just."

 _Today, on our own we forged something powerful. Important._

 _A team._

"What, like a bunch of super friend?" Wally joked, trying to pull Clark away from inspiring grimness. Leave those dark remorse's for other times.

It worked, Clarks strong mouth curved into an amused smile. "More like a Justice League."

Wally couldn't help walking forwards, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Do you have any idea how corny that sounds?" he teased, ribbing Clark lightly before stepping up to the plate. He needed for this to work. The World Needed the Justice League. "But maybe the Big Guy's got a point. With all of us behind him, it just might work."

Wally lifted his hand to clasp Clarks firmly.

"Count me in."

* * *

Amanda Waller was not a happy woman. Not at all. Things just kept getting worse, and she kept getting more work. Now the so-called Super Heroes were teaming up, posing a bigger threat for if and when they turned against the people they claimed to protect.

The public was in danger as long as they went unchecked.

She could really use some good news that day.

Lucky for her, good news came knocking at her door.

The woman looked up from her documents on the recent invasion, and a report on the newest 'helper' of justice, all green skin and grim lines. His powers were… worrying, to say the very least.

"It's open," she declared, setting the paper down amongst the dozens of others. She needed to get some rest, there were dark circles under her eyes, though her skin shade made it at least a little harder to determine exactly how far in debt she was to the sandman and Starbucks.

A nameless document runner, who was actually names Monroe, born June 15th, 1973 in Coast City, blood type A, eighty nine percent target accuracy-

"I brought you something I think you'll want to see."

Was nice enough to interrupt her mulling and constant going over information.

"Bring it here," she ordered, and of course he obeyed, giving her what she wanted. What she needed, once she saw what the subject was on. Two pictures shoved side by side in a paper clip, on top of one that she had been present to take over a year previously. She knew that silhouette. She did not know the two gingers in the pictures.

That was about to change.

"Wallace Rudolph West…"

* * *

Wally loved his Rogues. Not in the way that Hartley loved the coffee shop boy he kept dragging to concerts, nor in the way Len loved the woman he had a million pictures of, and a ring in his pocket for.

No, he loved them in a way that it was impossible to find anywhere else in the world.

There were love-hate relationships all around, couples together only because it was exhilarating, people forced into situations that kept them from separating. It was as common as the sun in Missouri.

No, no, It wasn't that at all. The hate was gone by then, he realized when he got back from the invasion. He made his rounds, checked his city, and tracked down each and every one of his villains. Not to arrest them. To make sure they were safe. He even showed Sam how to properly stick up a cracked forehead.

The hate was gone after that completely.

No doubt they were still bitter about his constant stopping of their schemes, undoubtedly they wanted to pound his face in. He didn't blame them, he would be furious too if some do gooder punk kept ruining his carefully planned crimes. If he committed such things.

They got their shots in too, a frost bitten shoulder, a charred cheek, some electricity to his spine. The works.

The desire to kill him was gone.

The concern they showed for his well being was genuine.

He had been too stupid, too caught up in who they weren't to see what was right in front of him.

It was the little things. The talks on the way to the precinct, the carefully constructed death traps that always had some clever way out, the hang outs at the bar where everyone was just some loon in a costume instead of a good or a bad nut bar in spandex.

Wally had missed it when Mick pushed his plate of fried under his hand when he ran out, never noticed how casually Len would lean against him when he was telling Wally about the kind of wedding he was hoping for.

He'd missed it completely when James asked him to hang out outside of costume the day the circus was in town.

How dense, how utterly stupid had he been to miss all the signs that were right there in front of him?

His Rogues, who he had watched grow from bumbling new criminals to seasoned law breakers, they didn't hate him.

He didn't hate them either. He never had. He always made sure that they were in bases that were decently insulated, asked if they were feeling alright if their attacks were slow, made sure the cuffs weren't chaffing them. If they fell out a window grabbling he was always the one to hit the ground first. If some disaster was waiting outside their fight he would keep them as safe as he possibly could.

They knew, they had to.

Because just as he loved them, they honestly, truly, really cared about him.

* * *

"Back on Thanagar you were a cop, huh?" Wally asked, popping some corn into his mouth. He was curious. He wanted to know where her husband was. Hawkwoman, or Girl here, for god knew what reason, should have had a Hawkman at her beck and call.

Yet he was absent, something that Wally could actually ask about now that he knew her a little bit better. Not in a way that would let her know anything about him, of course. He never revealed much about himself.

He would be tactful. Sly.

Quite simply he would flirt the answer out of her.

"Detective," Shayara corrected. He knew what she was, but little mistakes made it more believable. Made it more _him_.

"What's it like there?" he quizzed, taking his time. Being slow. And of course, listening. He never just asked questions, every answer he was given he kept track of. He'd made the mistake of forgetting or not listening when someone told him something.

Now he was 'dead' and he was not making that same mistake again.

Shayara wasn't looking at him, she was busy inspecting the opened panel of the space station. Something kept shorting out and she wanted to keep them all alive.

"The same as anywhere I suppose. There are criminals, and we catch them," she said, gesturing with the hand not holding some mechanical thing. Electronics were always Dick's expertise, he knew chemicals more than anything else.

Wally pulled his legs further against his chest, keeping them out of her way as she moved on the lowered, open floor below his perch.

"What about when you're not catching criminals," he went on. His voice was soft, quiet. He really was interested in this Shayara.

"What?" she asked, confusion tilting what little of her face he could see.

Wally smiled a little. "Is there a Hawk- _Boy_?"

Her smiled said enough.

She hopped out of the pit and up onto the same level as him, walking off towards an approaching J'onn.

"I'll be doing maintenance," she said, vanishing into an elevator.

He stood and caught the look the Martian was giving him. He straightened up, a little offended. He wasn't doing anything wrong.

He zipped up to watch her disappear into the lift, stopping right next to green man. He smiled after her fondly. Wally liked the woman, she was nice.

"What?" he asked, keeping his tone light when J'onn looked at him, "Don't you ever get lonely?"

"More than you could imagine."

Wally's heart fell with his face. Damn, he'd messed that one up. He had been doing so well and it just slipped out, a greater truth and he would ever want to admit to the worst person he could have said it too.

It would be so easy to push his thoughts forwards, to reveal his innermost pain to the one person who would without a doubt understand. They had both lost everything and maybe, maybe. Maybe he could find some solace in the Martian.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" to mess everything up, to let so much slip. To hurt his new friend. He was reaching to touch J'onn's arm, his mind opening slowly to try and comfort him the way he had once done his niece, when the alarm rang up above them.

He didn't know if he should be relieved or frustrated.

Whichever it was, guilt was now pulling him apart.


	9. Happy Birthday

**This is just going to be a quick little one because of all of the amazing reviews!**

 **duskrider: Thank you!**

 **SynesTheoretical: You're very welcome!**

 **Harbinger Of Kaos: I'm not sure about romance for him here. Maybe?**

 **RikaWolfe: Thanks!**

 **isadorator: I know! I love the sad! Here's some more!**

 **Sphere Warrior: I'm sorry! Wally was the one who asked if he gets lonely.**

 **saya4haji: I'm sensing you like blood plus. I'm very glad you liked my update and I don't even have words to thank you for such a long review! It was absolutely incredible to come in and find it. Wally's in a lot of emotional stuff right now and everything is going to come crashing down eventually. Waller isn't going to help anything.**

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 **Moonshadowcuteness1: Oh, he'd coming up on a breakdown. Poor boy. He really needs someone to help him.**

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 **Dragonsjustice: Hartley is just a weird boy obsessed with music. He doesn't know how to date like a normal person.**

 **little miss BANANNA HEAD: Thank you! Actually, now that you mention it…**

* * *

It was dark.

His city always was but it seemed even bleaker than normal tonight.

November 11, 2018.

Wally would have been twenty two today.

Dick pulled his knees up to his chest further, eyes locked on the sky. This time it wasn't snowing. No snow days. No nothing.

He knew that the others were at the West house. Artemis, Bart, Barry, Iris, Rudolph and Marry. And, of course, the twins. Don and Dawn. They would never know their cousin. Weirdly enough they would grow up alongside their son.

That family always was weird. Not as weird as his, of course. It was hard to get weird than a psychotic, formerly dead brother. They got pretty close though. Just not so dark. Dangerous.

Dick propped his chin on his knees, his heart aching in his chest. Wally was never dark, or at least not for long. He was bright, brilliant. Sunshine in cloudy days.

It was impossible to keep him down.

A stupid commercial from his childhood ran through his head. Wobble, but never fall down.

Except Wally did fall down. He was no weeble.

He was just Wally.

Wally who vanished from the earth into a snowy vortex of light.

Gone, just like that, and Dick couldn't do a thing about it.

His parents, Jason, Wally. All gone, and never coming back, in one way or another.

Dead or no longer the person he knew.

Why, he wondered, did this happen.

Why to Wally, of all people?

His jaw tightened.

Why had he dragged him back in?

One more fight, one more day. And it turned out to be his last, all because Dick asked him to held save the world. And now Artemis was back in the game for good, Tigress now, no longer Kid Flash's partner. The mantel went on and they were missing Impulse.

Or so he assumed.

Nightwing hadn't made an appearance in over two years now.

All he knew was what he heard when Tim came over, dragging Cassie behind him, or when Kaldur dropped by now and again. He always was a better leader.

No one died on his missions.

Dick's phone buzzed in his pocket and went ignored for it's efforts. He knew who it was. Artemis had been trying to coax him into going over to the West house all week.

All year.

He hadn't attended the first year either. Instead he had gone back to the pole and stood, silent vigil, until he couldn't feel anything anymore except the long ache of loneliness.

And now, now he was doing the same thing, he was just incapable of making that trip again. The cast on his leg prevented it.

He was angry at himself.

It was stupid. He knew it. He'd been out of the game too long to justify trying to help Bruce when the Red Hood popped up again. And then it was _Jason_ , of all people and he just couldn't do anything anymore.

How foolish, how god damn _stupid_. Of course he would only get himself hurt with so long out of masks.

Even Jason was looking better than him and he was _Zombie_.

Dick really could have used Wally there right about then. Someone to talk to, someone who would sit him down and make him Mac N' Cheese and play some stupid board game until he couldn't remember what his problems were anymore over the game pieces and cards that had been thrown at his head.

If Dick hadn't out cried himself before he hit double digit he would have been doing it now.

He wanted his best friend back.

* * *

It was bothering him again.

It always did around this time of the year, or in June. The words of the scarab that he had never been able to decipher or get more clarification on what he meant.

Cease.

What did that mean?

Jaime couldn't understand it, Bart didn't know either and Nightwing was just a general mess.

The word echoed in his head, over and over, for weeks, months, now two years.

 _There is a problem Jaime Reyes, the Kid Flash is in danger. He is moving at a lower speed and taking on excess energy from the chrysalis. In sixteen second, he will cease._

 _Cease? Cease what?!_

The word still wouldn't go away.

There was no explanation he could come up with for why it seemed significant, nor could the Scarab explain it better. He had tried, multiple times for Jaime, but it was no use.

There was an easy explanation. The Scarabs understanding of earth language was not perfect. He had to have just meant 'deceased', or 'ceased to exist'.

The simple answer never sat well in his stomach.

He could never explain why, or why it meant so much to him. Why it dragged through his skull at times there was no reason for it to come up to his brain.

Today, at least, he had a reason to be thinking of it. It was Wally's birthday, and while he had never known him very well he still missed him, if nothing else on behalf of Bart and Artemis, both of whom he had come to care dearly for. Especially the former.

Maybe that was why it bothered him so?

Because they cared, and he cared on their behalf, in a more distant way that was at least partially guilt for being a part of bringing on the end of the world.

" _You are wasting your time with these thoughts, Jaime Reyes_ ," Scarab warned him. He usually did, and normally Jaime listened to him on that. He knew they were useless and he would let his partner draw his brain into more useful things. Usually homework.

"I know, I know. I just can't stop," he complained, throwing himself against his bed. His first apartment, half way furnished and just a block from campus. The upside, it was five fifty a months. The downside, it was known for hosting drugs and riot inducing parties.

It was strange how things changed. By then he was no longer the cover boy for young heroes. It was like the world forgot who he was after he stopped signing up for press conferences.

It was better for him in the long run, really.

Less stress.

"There is nothing you can do to reverse what happened to the Kid Flash," Scarab continued.

Jaime sighed heavily.

"I know, again. I just wish I could figure out why its bothering me," he tried to explain. He usually did.

And just like always…

"I do not understand your fixation on the loss of the Kid Flash."

"Let's just… not do this tonight," he requested, "It's not a good day for it. I just want to lay here and mope."

"Moping is a pointless act. It wastes your time, Jaime Reyes."

Ah, the lecture again.

He mumbled unintelligibly, something he wasn't sure was Spanish, English, or Spanglish. Whatever it was it got the Scarab to stop talking at him so it must have been effective. He got a distinct feeling of exasperation from the creature attached to his back though.

Neither one of them was very happy.

* * *

He was twenty two.

Twenty two and he was all alone, running around the city on a loose patrol. Just to clear his head. To get his brain away from his moms kitchen, the cake he wouldn't be getting, the kisses he would never receive against from Artemis.

He needed the fresh air more than anything else.

Actually, what he really needed was a crime to stop. Maybe an apocalypse.

Yeah, a nice end of the world would be nice.

He was so distracted by his birthday longing that he completely missed the ice on the street that sent him spinning into a wall.

Wally hit the bricks face first.

"Better watch your feet, Flash," Len's voice came from behind him, lighter than normal, "It's not wet anymore but you better bet it's slippery. "

Wally sat up, shook the dust off his head and turned around to see Len standing there with Sam, both men. Another meet up?

He stood, brushed his legs off. Looked for the others, waiting in the shadows. All he say was a window that wasn't reflecting properly.

"Evening boys. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked, rocking back on his heels. Ready to fight. Ready to run. His blood beat hot and fast in his ears.

Len didn't answer, he just hopped through the window. Sam gestured to the glass.

"Up for a surprise?" he asked, inviting as could be.

Wally smiled a little. Then a lot. This was exactly what he needed.

He didn't even question the intentions of his rogue, didn't doubt for a minute that he was going to land on solid ground. He shot right through the portal into…

A party?

He almost tripped again in his surprise. His head snapped around, one way, then the other.

The room was decorated like it was for a little kid, with red and yellow. A banner was strung up across one wall that read 'Happy Birthday Flash!'. Bellow it was buffet table, filled with foods of all sorts.

His mouth fell open. Everyone was there, all of his Rogues. Mick, Sam, Len, Hartley, James, Boomer. All of them.

"What is this?" he asked, looking around.

Len, always the leader, shrugged mildly. "James said today was your birthday. He wouldn't stop bugging us until we agreed to throw a party. "

Wally turned to look at the wild haired boy in the corner. They were all out of uniform, even Sam and Len were in the middle of pulling off mirror suite and parka alike.

Without fear he pulled down his cowl, revealing the brilliant red.

"You didn't have to," he tried to object, feeling warmth creep up on his cheeks. They were throwing him a surprise birthday party. His Rogues of all people. Even Superman had only send him a card.

"We wanted to," Hartley assured. "You always stopped by for ours."

It was true. Like clockwork he would appear to wish them Happy Birthday, be they in hide out or prison cell. He almost always brought cake along with him, or some bobble he knew they'd get a kick out of.

"This is more than just cake," he pointed out.

"You said you were low on rent this months, didn't you?" Mick asked, "We figured we could at least feed you today."

Wally smiled warmly at the fire bug. This was so much more than he could have ever hoped to get for his birthday.

"Thanks, guys."


	10. Frost

**So many reviews! Thank you so much!**

 **little miss BANANNA HEAD: Actually yes, I do have something planned where the worlds touch again, but that won't happen for a while yet. Like, a really long time to come. Thank you so much for liking my story!**

 **Kit: Wally is so tragic here! I love writing it! The friend in the Flashback was Superboy, sorry to leave that hanging.**

 **Kekejo99: Thank you!**

 **Isadorator: Ah whoops! Sorry, I never remember how many R's to put in Mar(r)y's.**

 **saya4haji: I couldn't even watch Blood C to be honest, I gave up like half way in. The Rogues take care of Wally, as much as they would like to finally beat him. They're really pretty good people, especially compared to Superman or Batmans. Really, Batman's are just horrible. There's such a balanced dynamic between Wally and his Rogues, it's really fun to write.**

 **SynesTheoretical: Oh if that's how your heart is now I'm going to rip it to shreds in the future.**

 **duskrider: Happy Birthday! I meant to post that earlier but it was in a flashdrive I lost.**

 **SilverPhantom88: If you eat your phone you won't be able to read this chapter!**

 **Triskelion3467: OH, we'll see what Waller does. Nothing pleasant.**

 **AkariWarriorofSoul: Oh hell yes! I would love to see that, but I could not write it myself. Any volunteers?**

 **Chibi-Twan: Thank you for reviewing anyways! I'm really glad you enjoy this.**

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 **Moonshadowcuteness1: Yeah, Wally's death really fucked up Dick. And now he's got Jason back to worry about and all sorts of horrible things in the Horizon.**

 **Guest from Jan 16: Hooray for contrast!**

 **greymouser: You'll get more as time goes on!**

 **Guest from Jan 18th: Thank you so much! Imagine how horrible everyone will feel when they find out how sad he is and they just treat him like a kid all the time! He's the light in their dark world and in some ways he's the darkest of them all.**

 **WildJay1585: Someone will notice something. I'm just not sure who just yet.**

 **Cairine the Elf-Hearted:Thanks!**

 **Rae Kid: Dude you're taking away my biggest conflict! The Justice Lords are going fuck this child up so horribly, he'll have all this pressure on his shoulders and oh, oh, if no one knows where he's from by the time it happens it would be ever worse.**

* * *

Wally West.

Two boys, two different ages. Same red hair and green eyes.

One, a twenty two year old forensic scientist. The other, an eight year old boy with a penchant for math and science. Both had connections through one man.

Barry Allen, the elders coworker and friend, and the youngers own uncle. Logically he could be a part of the Flash's appearance in this world.

The only problem with that theory was that he had never done anything wrong in his life. His record was cleaner than anyone Amanda had ever seen. And what was worse, it wasn't faked the way it should have had to have been. No one was that squeaky. He barely had a parking ticket!

So he was out.

That meant that that the only thing connecting the pair of red heads was their names.

And, if this paper was right, their DNA.

An exact match, every single chromosome. It was impossible, unless they were twins, or clones, which they weren't. She'd checked personally.

All of this lead her to a few conclusions.

The first was one she liked much more. He was from the future. Easy, simple, neat.

The other was much more messy.

This separate world that the Flash had torn his way out of and into theirs, they had identical people to the one in hers.

Now if that wasn't disturbing, Amanda didn't know what was.

A world where there were doubles of people in this one. Was another her? Her mother, father? Her assistant? How many double gangers? How many doubles?

How many were already there?

It was such a disturbing thought. They only had evidence of one arrival, and none had come sense. Was it possible that he was the only one? If so, why? What had happened there that would force someone like the Flash to run away?

Normally they saw him running straight towards danger.

It was a frightening thought.

The entire situation was frightening. Worrying. Terrifying with its possibilities. It had all of Cadmus on high alert, everyone who knew about it. Their greatest worry was for the fastest man alive, for where he had come from and what it might entail.

The most worrying person on the planet was the one that the public loved beyond all others, the one who could greet everyone from mayor to cab driver by name.

It was about time that she went and had a little chat with the Fastest Man alive.

* * *

Snow.

Wally had a love-hate relationship with it.

On one hand, he had wonderful, amazing memories of it. His birthdays, Queen Perdita, learning to ice skate with Len when he was twelve, having hot chocolate in the back of paddy wagons with Mick when the man was suffering from cryophobia in the cold winter months.

Snow ball fights outside the cave, losing horribly to Kaldur and M'gann. Teaching Bart the delicate art of snow man building.

Snow Angels with Artemis.

Now the cold was bittersweet, filled with happy memories that made him smile and wistful longing that made him want to cry.

It reminded him of what he had lost.

The day he had lost it.

Cold, cold, so cold at the South Pole. Waking up against the long packed ice. Everyone gone, everyone there.

The confusion, the fear. The long months of grief he spent on park benches until he had his feet under him. The small thefts he committed just to keep himself fed.

If he was being honest he would have much rather been doing League business than his own patrols around his city, no matter how much he loved the people there.

The only problem was that out of all the members of his Justice League he was by far the least equipped for underwater combat. Even Batman would be more useful, and was being more useful, scanning the world for… something.

He didn't know. He was too busy trying to keep busy. In this case he was running around Missouri in the first snow of the year, probably curtesy of Mark or Len, taking care not to fall flat on his face. It was funny, there had never been any snow in Central or Keystone before the two of them showed up, but in the past few years people had grown so used its random popping up in the past two years you'd think they were from Colorado instead.

Already people were leaving their houses with salt bags and skies. They were used to this sort of thing by now. They knew that cross country was faster than driving at this point.

They were the ones Wally kept a particularly close eye on, making sure no one skidded off into the streets or walls. He had to be everywhere at once, all over.

Had wasn't the right word.

Wanted to be, in truth. He liked being of use, and really enjoyed being able to trot by and talk to people.

Annabeth, the baker-in-training who let him try her new creations every morning, listened to his 'expert' critique. He was pretty sure she just wanted to feed him. Not that he would ever complain, she was a wonderful cook and a very pretty girl, a year or so younger than himself.

Jeremy the bar tender, who fed pigeons in the park on Sunday mornings. Wally liked to sit with him and watch the church across the way as the Mass goers flocked out into the rest of their days. Some days he'd bring an extra loaf of French bread for Wally to have. That morning Wally made sure he didn't slip on his way up the stairs to his bar.

Lorelei, a singer at the alternative bar Hartley liked to drag him to no matter that he denied interest in boys. A very nice girl who needed a little help getting her groceries in from the car when her porch was iced over.

Jimmy the cab driver, who always forgot his paper got the fastest delivery of his life when traffic stopped entirely on the bridge out of the city, curtesy of the fastest man a live.

Wally should have been a Pizza boy. He'd get a fortune in tips for how fast he delivered things.

The Flash was in the middle of a snack break, something his citizens were very used to, when the chaos they'd all been bracing for came about in the form of a news report.

"Breaking News!" Iris West-Allen told the Camera. Wally wished she would wear a thicker parka, "City Hall has been frozen over in an attack staged by Captain Cold. He has already made the demands of one thousand dollars each in exchange for Mayor and the other one hundred and three hostages they've taken."

If there was one thing that had to be given to his Rogues it was their treatment of the media. They knew how to get the word out without hurting the reporters.

Especially not Iris. Wally had put that rule down already.

Every eye in the McDonalds turned to the Scarlet speedster. Wally inhaled the rest of his fries and stood up, adjusted his mask and saluted the crowd.

"Gotta run!" he announced, and vanished in a blur of red and yellow. He could practically hear the pained groans and amused laughs at his stupid joke.

When he hit the ice he was surprised to find that he bounced right off of it. Into the air. To land at the feet of this worlds version of his aunt.

Green eyes met with those the exact same color, though it was impossible to see through his cowl. Iris pushed her hand down instead of the microphone, like many reporters would have done.

Wally accepted her help with a smile. He'd thought he'd been going fast enough to break through the Ice but it appeared that he was wrong. The ice was thicker than he'd thought.

"Miss West. West-Allen. Hi," he stumbled a little, his breath partially knocked away by the impact.

"I don't know what took my breath away, the fall or seeing you," he flirted horribly. It felt weird, really, really weird to flirt with his Aunt Iris but it was what it was. He flirted with everyone else, it would look weird if he skipped over her.

Iris smiled at him tolerantly and held up her hand to show off the pretty gold ring on it.

In return, Wally bowed his head, thoroughly chastised with just that motion.

"Flash, how do you plan on getting everyone out of the ice?" she asked, finally pushing the microphone to him. Wally, never one to lie, gave an utterly comical shrug.

"Buy a really big hair dryer?" he offered, "I'll figure it out, don't you worry."

He already knew what to do. The same thing he'd done with the ice that had temporarily frozen him during his Race with Bruce. Wally moved to the wall of ice again and started taping it here and there, looking for the thinnest point. That would probably be the top but he still had fears of sliding down vertical climbs.

Since he didn't feel like breaking anything that day he went on looking. It was times like this when he wondered if it was too late for him to introduce his goggles into his uniform. They made finding things so much easier.

Eventually he picked a spot. The only place where he could clearly see the pillars of City Hall. His hand started shaking, the shaking turned to flat out blurring into yellow and a few stripes of red before he placed it against the ice, using the friction to melt right through. Once a hole formed he ran his hand along its edges until it was big enough for him to step through without bending down.

He wasn't too worried about the civilians, the Rogues weren't there for killing. Just money.

Thank god for the code that Len set down.

That did bring up a question. They wouldn't kill, but they didn't normally take hostages either. Things got too messy when they were involved. Which worried the man.

This was unusual.

Unusual was usually very bad. For him.

Wally knew his way around the Mayors office, so he took a short cut. Or, really, a Robin Cut. Through hallways no one used, down tracks of tile that were pristine, never worn down. He went quick, unseen entirely.

When he arrived at the hostage point it was using tricks that Speedsters never bothered with to gain height.

He perched on the moldings of the arched ceiling, tucked into the shadows. He'd kept one aspect of his old suite, the Stealth Mode, integrated into his new one. It kept him in the dark, away from prying eyes.

What he found was very, very disturbing.

It was not Captain Cold that was prowling around the crowd of officials and assistants.

No, it was Plastic Man and Killer Frost.

This was wrong. So very, very wrong. Patrick wasn't always a saint but shit, he was never someone who did this. And he was never, ever a person who worked with real criminals. So something else was up.

Wally took a slow, deep breath. This wasn't good. Killer Frost had that name for a reason, and Patrick had always worried him a little. Not because of his morals, or his past as a crook, but because the shear amount of _possibility_ in his powers. He was a light hearted goof, it was his nature as much as it was Wally's, but his powers could be used for so much more than merely stretching out.

In this case, it had been used for a metamorphosis of Captain Cold, though that had been left behind already aside from the goggles and the blue parka he was using. Wally was ninety eight percent sure the only reason the man had to stick to reds and yellows was a mental block.

The speedster took a breath. He was going to have to move fast if he was going to do this. A sneak attack, since Frost was truly going to kill her hostages. Maybe if he could knock her out first he could talk Patrick out of this.

He didn't want to hurt the man. He knew how, had heard stories of contingency plans Dick had stumbled across. Extreme heat and cold could melt or shatter him, and Wally could do heat. He just didn't want to. God knew it would be horrible, painful, probably traumatizing.

Talking would be a better idea.

He slipped away from the scene, light on his feet before he was racing back in, faster than the human eye. The ground had been iced but he used the lack of friction to his advantage, gaining momentum before he smashed his fist into the back of Kill Frost's head.

She crumpled to the ground, probably with a nasty concussion.

Wally barely had time to change his angle and hit the ground like a penguin before Patrick could snatch him up with an elastic arm.

The man looked panicked.

Oh boy.

"What did you just do?" he demanded. His voice actually cracked.

Wally lifted his hands. "Hey, hey, take it easy. She's just out _cold_."

Even Wally's stupid pun didn't make Patrick relax, he looked tighter than a spring. Strange for a man made of elastic.

"No, no, no," he shook his head. "She had to make the call, in five minutes she has to make _the call_."

Worry turned in Wally's stomach. "What call?" he asked, stepping forwards.

Patrick didn't lash out at him, even let him put his hands on his shoulders while he was freaking out.

"Plas, what call?" he repeated, more firm this time. The joking speedster was no where to be found. If Plastic man was Serious, he needed to be too.

The man looked from him to Killer Frost, his neck extended to see above the Hero's head.

"The call to her guys. They have my girlfriend."

Everything clicked together.

Wally looked down at Frost, then back at Patrick. "Do you know where?" he asked.

Plasticman shook his head miserably. "She wasn't going to tell me. I have no idea…"

Wally hummed before he tapped the side of his cowl. He searched Frost while the line connected with a gruff, 'Batman', fishing out the woman's phone.

He flipped it open, just an old fashioned burner with no fancy security codes, and checked the call history. Just one number.

"Bats, hey, I need you to trace a number for me. Now," he tried to lighten his voice but he must not have done a very good job, or Batman would have said something snappish. He felt it when Patrick pushed an extended ear up against his lightning bolt, close enough he would hear the Comm too.

"Go."

Wally recited the number, giving the Dark Knight just enough time to type it in. Then, they had to wait.

Luckily, it was Batman who was doing it, so the waiting wasn't for long.

"There's a warehouse outside Seattle that the signal is coming from. What's going on, Flash?"

When Patrick moved to run off Wally caught his arm, which stretched until he noticed someone was holding it.

"Kidnapping," he said simply, pulling out a word of wire to tie up Frost. It wouldn't get brittle with her powers if she woke up before the cops got in to cart her off. Once that was done he scooped up Patrick, ignoring his indignant yelp.

"Hold on," he instructed.

Patrick gave him a funny look. Before he could say anything witty the Flash exploded forwards, shattering the sound barrier. Patrick was practically liquid against him they were running so fast, the speed blowing away his words.

Wally wasn't worried, the man would be fine. He was rubber, and even if he wasn't the Speed Force protected Wally and the people he held while he ran for him. Thankfully.

If it didn't they would die of whiplash. And so would he, probably.

They reached Seattle with thirty seconds to spare.

The warehouse was inhabited by a group of thugs, fifteen, and a tied up woman. Blond, pretty. That would be Penny.

Wally set down Patrick, his eyes on the group in front of him. He gave a gallant bow to the elastic man.

"I believe the honor is yours," he joked.

Patrick smiled at him. "Thanks, Flasher."

Wally scrunched up his nose, personally offended by the name. While Patrick fell onto the kidnappers he turned and rushed away. His work was done, and the sun was setting.

It was a good day, he figured, zipping back into his apartment.

Until he found that he was not alone.


	11. In Which Wally Meets the Wall

**I'm not to confident about the characterization in this chapter so if I messed it up, please be kind.**

 **Reviews;**

 **SilverPhantom88: Well it's a good thing it didn't' work or you wouldn't see the end of this cliff.**

 **MythologyGirl: This isn't very much but it is a lead up to it! I'm not exactly sure how well I did, solely because this is a tricky bit of hypothetical work and it's difficult to keep these two in character. So, we'll find out how well I did.**

 **isadorator: Yes I meant skis. I live at the base of a mountain you would think I'd be able to spell skis. Thank you for pointing that out. I'm not sure that this chapter will live up to your explosive expectations, I'm afraid. The storm is more like rolling thunder.**

 **Arekanderu: Thank you! Here it is!**

 **K.J. Bollinger: Funny, one of my favorite friends is named Bollinger. And it is her! Thank you!**

 **AkariWarriorofSoul: Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition. Similarly, no one expected Wally to end up in an alternate reality.**

 **greymouser: Your name reminds me of a cat. I'm horrible at grimdark so there's not much of that!**

 **2SexyForMySkirt: I loved the Stealth Mode! It's such a huge change to the normal brilliance of the Scarlet Speedster, and it's one of the most useful things I've ever seen. It only made sense for someone as smart as Wally to take advantage of it. Poor Dick and Artemis are just balls of suffering angst.**

 **Harbinger Of Kaos: Well. You're very good a predictions.**

 **duskrider: I always loved Plastic Man, he was just so much fun to watch in his old TV Show.**

 **nekochan1994: Oh Shit is right.**

 **WickedlyMalovent: Thank you very much! I hope this (admittedly short) chapter meets your expectations!**

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 **Wildjay1585: I'm glad you like it! It is Waller, waiting in the dark like a Bat or something.**

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* * *

Of all the things Wally expected to come home to, a lady twice his age sitting in his living room was not one of those things.

It brought about all sorts of questions and new wave of absolute paranoia.

One question he barely needed to ask. "Who are you?" he already knew. He recognized her. Amanda Waller, warden for Belle Reve. She was different here, her make up was thicker, and she had a necklace to go along with her earrings.

From the severe lines on her face he could guess that was about the only difference he was going to find. She still looked stern, like she was made of steel instead of flesh. Ice in her eyes, more than any frozen villain he had ever come across.

Truly Amanda Waller was not a person he wanted to trifle with.

It was very unfortunate that she was in his living room then.

"I think you might know who I am," she said slowly. "Wally West. Senior. Funny you live in the same city as junior."

Wally stared at her hard. This was… difficult.

If the ring sitting on his coffee table and the stack of papers next to it was anything to go by she already knew much more about him than most people in this dimension.

The big question was, what was she going to do with that?

Wally sighed. Well, what did he have to lose? He didn't even have parents anymore.

He dragged a chair into the living room, the only other one in the apartment, and dropped into it across from her.

What did he have to lose?

 _The Wall-Man meets the Wall. Er. Wow that's lame._

"What brings you to my oh-so-humble abode?" he asked, gesturing around them with more muted humor than he normally allowed.

"The same thing that's going to take me to East End tomorrow. You."

East End, the street his family lived on, in this world and the other world. Dread curled in his stomach. Amanda Waller had always been tough, dangerous, and never very fond of Meta Humans. There was only one reason she could be here now.

In a blur he had the papers scattered across his coffee table. Names, dates, times. Information and energy readings.

A picture of a mans imprint in the snow, dated June 21st, 1999.

Wally let out a low whistle.

"I didn't know anyone else knew I was there," he said, casual as could be. He should have been expecting this. No one could stay hidden forever, and he was no Bat. It was just a matter of time. He hadn't expected it to be Waller though. Maybe Savage, or Klarion even. He knew about different plains of existence.

Waller actually looked smug. "You didn't think you could keep hiding out, did you?"

"I hoped to," Wally said slowly, "I mean, it would have been nice… Do you want me to call you Amada or Waller?"

Her shoulder's tensed. This was a dangerous game they were playing, they both had to tread carefully.

"Ms. Waller will do fine," she said simply, "Flash. Or, Mr. West."

"Wally," he corrected.

"Is that you're real name?" she pressed.

The ginger nodded slowly. With all that data there was no sense at all in lying to the woman. If he did, it would only make him look more like the threat she clearly thought he was, if the flashing end of a sniper riffle across the street was any indication.

How many other knew his secret?

"I'm Wally West," he assured simply.

"And the little boy on East End?" she pressed.

"Also Wally West," his tongue felt thick as he uttered, "This world's original."

Years and he had never told anyone. Years and no one had ever asked. She wasn't asking but she had so much proof, an overwhelming amount of evidence that he _didn't belong here_.

"So it is another universe," she said, her voice dropping. She was probably on comms, Wally realized. He kicked back, playing at being relaxed. In reality he was tight as a spring. This was going to be bad. Really, really bad.

But what was he supposed to do? Deny her evidence? Kidnap her and lock her up in his super-secret Flash Cave that didn't exist? Drop her off on Lian Yu?

"So what?" he asked, crossing his arms. "What does this mean for me? We both know you can't catch me, that sniper across the street won't be able to shoot me. Even if you are armed, I can move quicker than the electricity can get from your brain to your body. "

She didn't answer his question. Asked one of her own.

"Why are you here?" She demanded, leaning up towards him. He was alerted to others in the house by a scuff from the other room. A shoe.

He'd grown up with Bats, did they really think they could hide from him?

"Isn't that the question of the universe?" he questioned. He had to watch how fast he was talking. The ticking clock was a good measuring stick to use. _Second by second, count it with your heart._

"Why are any of us here? What purpose do we serve in the grand scheme of things? Why am I here instead of my best friend? Why do I live a dozen gun shots and Kennedy doesn't make it through one? Why does the universe-"

"I didn't come here for a philosophy debate," she snapped.

Wally let her. She was scared. He could see it in the tension in her shoulders and the way her hand kept twisting minutely towards the gun hidden inside her jacket.

"No. You came here to interrogate me in my own home. How many guns are aimed at me? Thirteen? Thirty?" he demanded, leaning closer. Something darker slid into his eyes. Years of pent up frustration, of carefully hidden feeling of guilt and hatred at the world, at the Speed Force, at the Reach, was threatening to rip itself from where it hid behind his teeth.

"The sound my not reach me before bullets do but I can see them coming, I can _feel them_ in the air around me."

There was a click from the other room.

Wally put a noose around his errant feelings. This wasn't how he wanted to go about this. He wasn't going to threaten her. That was rude, wrong. Bat-like.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone," he said, a bit softer. "It was an accident. If I could go back, God knows I would, but I'm stuck here. So I'm making the best of it."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" She demanded, eyes narrowed at scarlet speedster. He could feel through the Speed Force the beat of her heart as it picked up. It was surreal to remember that he frightened people sometimes. Putting them at ease, joking around and laughing, it was just second nature.

There were few people who it didn't work with.

Waller had always been one of them, before and after his transportation.

"Are you working for the U.N. or the U.S. Senate?" he questioned. When her eyes narrowed and she didn't respond he had his answer. "Then it doesn't really matter what you believe," he said flatly.

Waller stood up, over the young man, her dark eyes narrowed down at him.

"I wonder if your friends at the so-called Justice League know about this? Or your adoring public. What would they say?" she hissed.

Wally managed to withhold expressing the plummet of his heart. Fear tried to strangle him.

"I dunno. With all the aliens running around, what's one more different world?" he asked, calm as he could. His cheer had melted away. It wasn't necessary right now.

Waller spoke into the top button on her shirt. "We're done here. Move out."

Wally leaned back on his chair, watching the parade of military men leave his apartment. Three, plus Waller. As they exited, he called after them.

"Watch your step. It's snowy out!"


	12. Falling Graysons

**nekochan1994: As you should be. Waller finally found someone Blackmail doesn't work on.**

 **Arekanderu: Terrifying, dear boy.**

 **Harbinger of Kaos: Funny your URL should pop up right before this chapter... Anyway, I'm afraid you hit the wrong nail this time. Your guesses are just off.**

 **SynesTheoretical: See outside of the Suicide Squad I never really liked her as a villain. She was just looking out for people without powers, and she recognized that there were limits and good people in the world. I'm going to have fun with her.**

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 **Guest from January 30th: Clark is still from earth. He may not have been born there but it's definitely his home. As for Wally, he's a genius but he'd not always the smallest kid.**

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* * *

Wally had a hard time hating anyone. It simply wasn't in his nature.

Adam Savage was the first exception there was. Followed quickly by Sports Master, then Queen Bee.

The Reach were at the top of his list.

That being said, he had a hard time understanding the way some people hated their Villains. Bruce he knew didn't really hate most of them, aside from the Joker. There was one person he knew that they both loathed.

Tony Zucco.

The man who had ripped Dick's parents away from him, right in front of his eyes. Wally had never, and didn't think he ever could, forgive the man for what he'd done to his best friend. He couldn't forget the dead, broken eyes that the little boy had had the first time they'd met.

The sight haunted him ten years later.

When he'd come to this world, he'd made a vow to keep that from happening again. He'd sworn to himself that he would keep the Grayson's alive. He never imagined that he would be in the middle of volcano evacuations when they died.

For years he'd been attending the shows of the Flying Graysons, almost religiously. He'd watched Mary and Richard soar in ways only their son had been able to in the world Wally had been born too, cheered louder than anyone in the little boy's debut swing.

That had been months ago. It had completely slipped his mind that they were preforming in Gotham that night until news reached him the following morning when he went up for monitor duty.

Guilt gripped his heart until he thought it was going to stop beating entirely.

The force of it was so overwhelming J'onn came in to check up on him before he was able to move.

"Flash?" the Martian asked, actually touching his shoulder. It made the ginger jump nearly out of his suite with his surprise. He hadn't heard him come in.

Wally was grateful his cowl hid his eyes.

"Oh, hey there," he struggled to push cheer into his voice. "What's up, Big Guy?" He was so used to tucking his darker feelings away it was bewildering for someone outside of his Gallery to notice them. J'onn, he had to remind himself, was an Empath. He would feel the chocking culpability just as much as Wally himself.

"You are upset." It wasn't a question. None the less, Wally nodded, slowly.

"This kid, Dick Grayson. His parents died last night. In front of him," he let his voice go quiet. Acting wouldn't do too much in the face of the Martian. For a situation like this, he didn't need to act.

J'onn looked beyond him, towards the monitors still flashing. He'd frozen the news article on Dick while the other two dozen flashed by at speeds anyone else would have trouble keeping track of, news from all over the world. Batman was probably already all over it.

"People on this world are lost every day. Why are you fixated on this one boy?" the alien inquired. It wasn't judgmental, not in the least. Only curious. He forgot sometimes that this worlds Martian Manhunter had only been on world for a few months. Not a few years.

Wally swallowed thickly. He wasn't ready to tell them yet. The day, in the beginning, he had been close, but now, after Waller showed up…

He didn't want to risk it. Not yet. When they called him Flash it was easy to step up to that plate, to slip into that skin. If they started calling him Wally it would only be that much closer to everything he had lost.

The man had a hard enough time adjusting to his Rogues using his Civilian ID. He wanted to wait a while before letting the others in on it.

Green eyes cast downwards. He should tell them though. If Waller knew that much about him, how much did she know about the rest? Did she know about Bruce? Clark? Diana? Did she know that all you had to do was pain a knife yellow and it would slip through anything John made?

Why.

 _Because he'd my best friend, because he looks just like-because he is-because I promised- because-becausebecause,_

"Because I never I got to say goodbye to my folks, I guess."

He felt more than saw J'onn's expression shift. The Martian slid slowly into the seat beside him.

"I saw my Wife and Daughter perish," he confided, "I did not tell them goodbye. For my own life, I could not hear them scream. I ran."

Wally looked up, a wry, true smile sliding onto his face. He took a chance to lay his hand on top of the Martians.

"I know a thing or two about running."

* * *

Bruce was in the Manor when the call came through, routed from his Com link. He stepped away from Dick, who still wasn't looking anyone in the eyes. His heart ached for a boy.

"Go," he ordered gruffly, his voice dropping to something more gravelly. He didn't have time for this, he had a new ward to take care of, Dick needed someone around. Someone to distract him from the grief the way Alfred had done for Bruce, all those years ago.

"Hey Bats." It was the Flash. Or it sounded like him, the tone wasn't as unflappably chipper as Batman had grown used to. Why?

"What do you need?" He had to need something or he wouldn't be calling at all.

"I want to go to Gotham for a day or two."

Bruce stopped, confusion twisting his brain. For two reasons. Flash was asking permission to do something, which, to his knowledge, didn't happen in normal circumstances. That something was to go to his city.

"Why?" he demanded. There was a beat of silence.

"The Flying Grayson's died there last night. There was something weird about it, I want to check it out, and check on the kid."

Bruce looked back at the boy sitting on one of his couches. His eyes narrowed. What connection could he have with Flash? The crime hadn't happened ince tnral, and the Circus traveled, it wasn't stationary. It wasn't a part of either of their domains, and he'd never seen Flash over interested in it.

"Why?" He asked again.

He heard the Flash sigh. "I've been watching the Grayson's shows for years. I just… I don't want the kid to be alone."

There was a rawness in the speedster's voice that Bruce knew far too intimately.

"He's with Bruce Wayne," the Bat reported. "He's lost his family too."

By the sound of the Flash's voice, that made three of them.

"You don't like meta's in your city," was an interesting thing for Flash to know without Batman having ever told him, "So I'm asking you, to let me try and help this kid."

Desperation.

He could hear it in the Flash's voice but he couldn't understand what it was from. How did he know Dick? Why did he care so much? A puzzle, now given to him from his teammate. He was going to have to look into it when he had the time, after Dick went to bed, probably. Letting Flash come visit could provide more clues to this new puzzle.

Still, Bruce heard himself say, "He's fine. Worry about your own city."

There was only silence. It took Bruce a minute to figure out that the Flash had hung up on him, just like that. He'd thought he might persist, at least a few more sentences, until Batman gave in. He didn't expect him to give up. It wasn't like the Flash.

It occurred to him that he may have made a mistake.

Just what that mistake was, he would have to figure out after he'd settled the newly orphaned acrobat into his home.

* * *

It wasn't as fun messing with Armadillo's anymore. It hadn't been since the Dumb Kid in yellow left. His replacement was faster, and chatty, but there was something about him that the Lord of Chaos just didn't like.

He seemed fake and if there was one thing Klarion didn't like in his toys it was a bad paint job.

Klarion didn't care for him at all.

To put it bluntly, he was boring.

Klarion watched, Teekl in his arms as the darker Red Head slammed head first into a barrier. Again. Didn't he ever learn?

Wait, where was the other red one? With the cape?

Left? No. Right? Nu uh. Klarion glanced over his shoulder. Nothing behind either. Above was clear. Which meant…

The Lord of Chaos launched himself into flight seconds before the muscle head that Canaan liked exploded out of the dirt. Klarion laughed at his efforts, standing tall on a glowing platform.

"Where's that wisdom of Solomon?" he taunted, moving out of the way when the man tried to hit him while flying. They should have taken Makeda's brain instead.

He used the instant of surprise that flashed across the hero's face to smash his away with a wave of red energy. The thing he'd come there for was on the other side of Baby Magic, who had a barrier going strong.

The party was fun, but he had better things to do with his time. Savage had been getting pouty after their defeat a few years ago. It made playing with him too much a chore for Klarion to enjoy. So he'd gone looking for something fun he wanted that would get the attention of the kiddies he'd been watching grow up.

Mortals. They aged so fast.

The Tarnhelm sat beyond the shield that the little girl had conjured, with her body separating them as well. Baby Magic always had guts. It was one of the things that made her such a fun toy.

Even better, her magic was a little less pathetic now. She would never be on his level, but Nabu had left her with a boost that he liked trying to draw out.

He never understood why these mortals willingly put on Nabu's helmet when they knew what it would do. They were just stupid, he guessed.

Stupid enough to stand in front of him. He threw out a burst of searing fire, smashing it against the little girls barrier. The surprised scream she gave before the new Kid swept her out of the way was music to Klarions ears. Teekl purred her agreement.

He loved playing with these kids. They were so much more fun than-

A flash of yellow light seared into his eyes, signally the arrival of the end of his fun. The Witch Boy pouted before his face twisted into a demonic smile. He dropped Teekl, transforming her on the way down to keep the kiddies distracted while he took on the Lord of Order.

"Go back to your Tower, Nabu," he demanded, "I'm _playing_."

"The time for games is over, Witch Boy."

The party pooper didn't even banter! At least the New Kid was fun to spin with words.

"No," he corrected, sneering at the Geezer. "I'm just getting started!" his voice grew sharp and shrill before he threw his magic at Nabu in an explosion of anger and the desire to maim. He was going to spoil his fun! He always did!

Chanting drew some of his attention away from blocking a black from Nabu by chanting from bellow. It was the little girl, holding hands with Canaan's chosen one. Both of them were glowing, crackling with energy, while the new runner did laps around his precious familiar. Panic curled around his blackened heart.

No, no, no, "No!"

He screamed when lightly flew off of them towards his cat. Klarion watched, eyes wide as, at the exact same time as the electricity hit her and ripped through him, Teekl's paw caught the running boy. Electricity flashes, rolling through his form and splitting him from the inside out, his connection to the plain twisting beyond corporeal.

He wasn't the only one that flickered.

Through the searing burn of the mystic lightning he could see Teekl and the New Kid both flickering, the red head's mouth wide open with shock. Or was it a scream? Klarion hoped it was a scream but he couldn't hear anything over the roar in his ears.

Something interesting was happening to the Kid. When he flickered red lightning, not the gold that had been a part of the attack, flickered across his suit. Something was behind him. Someone.

Red hair, green eyes.

Klarion squinted. The image was gone as soon as it had come and he was plummeting to the ground anyway to he couldn't really focus on it that much. He barely felt it when the hard floor of the museum cracked his head. The form he took in this world had bones that broke with the impact but he was barely there enough to teleport to Teekl and himself out of that stupid dimension and back to the one where he belonged.

He needed time to recover, and to think about what he'd seen.


	13. Injustice, Part 1

**Reviews;**

 **UnlockedPotential: I'm actually finally moving away from that! It's so sad, I need to start making some things at least a little happier. I'm still debating on the big revival. Thanks for reviewing!**

 **K.J. Bollinger: Thanks!**

 **Synaps: J'onn and Wally are tragic friends and so much fun, and Batman is going to make things even worse. Or better, depending. As for Klarion, he does appear in the DCAU, so I had to figure something to do with him.**

 **nekochan1994: Well! Since you asked! It's just a shadow, I'm afraid. You did just give me an idea for a super sad other fanfic idea though! Check it out;**

' **He'd always wanted to be faster but this was ridiculous. Trapped in the Speed Force. Some zombie in a black Flash suite kept trying to take his head off. None of that was going to stop him from helping people though. His friends, his family. Even if he was dead, even if he was a ghost or something else entirely, he was going to keep watching over them. Maybe not a ghost. Maybe an angel.'**

 **2SexyForMySkirt: Set yes. But will the act play out?**

 **NeonBlackRoseRevived: I knoooow.**

 **MiriB: Thank you!**

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 **little miss BANANNA HEAD: Thank you so much. I feel like Wally was just such an instrumental part of everything that no one can quite hate him. Even Klarion. That might just me taking liberties though.**

 **Not-Gonna-Update: Your name tempts me… And thank you, I'm glad you like it.**

 **Wildjay1585: I hope this lives up to your expectation.**

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 **SleepiPanda: Yes, yes he does.**

 **Josulimin: Well, here's some more to read!**

 **AvatarMomo: Thanks, I hope this is soon enough! How's Appa doing?**

 **Dakari: Thank you! Those two children are horrible and tragic and I love them.**

 **Radium13: Thanks, is this soon enough?**

* * *

He should have been angrier. More furious that his direct demands were being ignored. Somehow, though, he was intrigued.

Bruce was still upset, make no mistake.

Some of that was smoothed over by his curiosity and the burning desire to know w _hy_ there was redhead who kept popping up around his manner, in the exact place where there were no camera's. The only reason he knew he was there was because Alfred and Dick caught glimpses of him. Bruce saw a twist of blacks and greys with red on top.

There was only one person he could think of that was able to disappear and reappear in no time.

And he had specifically told him to stay out of his city.

So what was the Flash doing running around his city, keeping his new Ward away from trouble? Knocking him back from almost crossing occupied streets. Keeping flying, angry birds off of his back. Where they came from Batman was still working on.

There was no conceivable reason for him to be so interested in Dick. Or in the little blonde girl that lived outside of Crime Alley. Artemis Crock. Jason Todd, from the Alley itself had been seen with the black blur as well.

He couldn't understand. There were no other people with super speed, but the Flash was red totally, and on top of that he wasn't the type to get attached to random children.

... A bigger lie had never been told.

The lie still didn't explain the truth. Why was the Flash so fixated on these three?

They had nothing at all in common. Not all three. Artemis and Jason were from bad lines, both of their parents with rap sheets as long as his arm. Never mind Artemis' parents were professional assassins. Dick and Jason were both black haired. Dick and Artemis both had a tint from their Romani and Vietnamese heritage respectively.

That was it. There was no reason for the Flash to have taken an interest in all three of them.

There was also no reason for there to be two Wally Wests in Central city with the same hair color, eye color, freckle pattern and blood type.

Nothing made sense at all about it. Except for Cloning, which was out of the question because the elder of the pair hadn't existed long enough for it to be him as the original, despite his near air tight cover.

 _Near_.

There were small things that gave him away. The lack of photos from before two years ago, even on his Facebook page. The small gaps in academic merits. All Bruce needed to prove that it was fake was to get his hands on the yearbooks from the time that the elder had supposedly been in school.

If the little Wally wasn't the clone, which he wasn't, his hospital records and everything else were perfect. There was nothing he could tear apart there, no single thread of doubt to be found. So the bigger one had to be the clone.

Speed Grown? For what purpose? There was nothing important about Wally or his parents so why would another one be needed? What possible reason was there?

There wasn't one.

Which put him back to square one.

Bruce did not, at all, like Square One. Square One made him want to march into Central City and demand an explanation from the Scarlet Speedster.

The most cheerful, happy man he had ever met in his life.

It was insufferable.

And dangerously contagious. Batman had almost cracked a smile at some of his terrible puns.

Could all be fake? Could every one of those jokes, could all of that lightheartedness, be false?

He needed more information.

* * *

Wally wasn't dead.

Bart didn't know how he hadn't realized it before but Wally couldn't be dead. It wasn't possible, to put it simply. Because there was nothing there to kill him.

Barry and Artemis were both staring at Bart like he'd lost he'd mind. Jay was in the corner, looking sympathetic but pitying. And Dick was shaking his head. He looked the worst. Darker than before Wally had disappeared.

"Bart," his grandfather said slowly, "The energy run off killed Wally. We know this. We were _there_."

"I know," Of course he knew, he'd seen it happen. Watched the energy slam into the middle speedster and rip into his molecules themselves. The Speed Force tearing into him. Above their heads was the rapid patter of two tiny speedsters, running around while Iris and Joan ran after them and Lian laughed in the corner. Artemis had been babysitting when he'd called her.

"But the energy didn't kill him. It couldn't have or the Black Flash would have been there and he wasn't."

Now they were all looking at him like he was Crazy. Capital C intended.

He bit back a sigh. Leaned forwards on his knees and saw them all shift back. The way they did when he stopped being as wild as 'Impulse' had arrived to be. Even though it wasn't necessary anymore he liked being happy. He _was_ happy here. His cynicism had faded over the past few years, lessening. It was nice.

Every now and again though the war-torn boy from 2056 would make an appearance. And it unnerved his family and friends.

"My dad told me about it when I was a kid. Speedsters have their own grim reaper, essentially. Whenever one of us is about to die, he appears to take our souls, or whatever. To return us to the Speed Force. It was there for Jay, it was there for Dawn, and my mom saw it when it came for my dad." He hated the looks they gave him when he talked about his original time line. "It wasn't there, in Arctic. And if it wasn't there then he's not dead."

Looks were being exchanged. Ideas, hope, had started to take root.

"If he's not dead," Dick spoke up, the words rolling off his tongue slowly, "Then where is he?"

* * *

Wally liked Metropolis. It was warm and sunny, the people were nice. They had a globe in a park with him and Clark running around it and there was a bagel place on ninth that gave him free blueberry whenever he was in town.

He wasn't there for that today though. He wished he could be but this was bigger than that.

Lex Luthor had blood poisoning.

Clark had made the announcement a few days ago, after a set up gone wrong. He looked like he hadn't slept since it, and honestly, Wally didn't blame him. He didn't hate Lex. Not at all. If Wally knew Clark like he thought he did then the Big Guy was probably beating himself up over this. Even thought it was Lex's fault for carrying the chunk of kryptonite around for years.

Anyone with a brain knew that radiation of any kind was dangerous.

So why had it never occurred to one of the smartest businessmen Wally had ever known that the glowing green rock might hurt him one day?

Even if the research on it in this world was a decade and half behind what he'd grown up with one would think that there would be common logic in the risk factor of something that could kill Superman. Was this Luthor just not as smart as the one in his dimension?

Wally shook those thoughts out of his head and shot up the side of the building, towards where he knew Superman liked to hover and watch over his city. Batman had his gargoyle, Superman had his cloud.

One he floated down off of when the Flash was close enough. Wally greeted him with a smile and a clap on the shoulder, accompanied by a bagel.

His family had a habit of consoling with food. Even before he got a super metabolism, it had been the case. If he failed a test or had a bad day, his mom would sit him down with a whole pan of Mac n' Cheese. The habit had stuck long after he'd gotten his powers. It just took a few extra boxes now.

"It's cranberry."

Clark cracked a half of a smile. Non the less he pushed the bag back to Wally with a shake of denial.

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry," he explained.

Wally frowned at him. Not accepting food from someone who burned through it as fast as he did was like rejecting some… super important. From someone super important.

He was super important so the metaphor was perfect.

Yep.

Absolutely.

"When's the last time you ate?" he asked after a minute. Usually he would just tear into the food himself. He was always hungry so what if someone else felt like starving for a change. Him and the kids in Africa would be just fine with what they didn't want.

This was different though.

"Flash," Clark put his hands on the younger man's shoulders. "I'm fine. Really."

"Really?" he challenged. His cowl projected his arched brow and disbelief clearly.

Clark sighed. "I'm a grown man. I can take care of myself. And I am," he added when Wally opened his mouth to interject. "I am taking care of myself. Just because Lex is sick doesn't mean I'm going to make myself too."

That was bad phrasing but Wally got the gist of it.

"Alright, if you say so." The assurance was enough. Clark was smart enough that he wouldn't be saying this if he didn't mean it. And he wouldn't stop doing the basics just because Lex Luthor was dying. It was in his nature to put the world on his shoulders but it wasn't like he was going to neglect his own health to do it.

Or so Wally hoped.

When Clark was definitely not going to eat the bagel Wally went back to his normal habits and tore into it like an animal. His vicious treatment of the grain had his friend cringing back in what looked like sympathy for a bagel. Clark was too good of a person for his own good sometimes, honestly.

He was on the last bite when the call came in over their Comm links.

" _All units, all units. Two prisoners have escaped. Lex Luthor and the Ultrahumanite. Both are considered arms and extremely dangerous."_

Suddenly, he was feeling a lot less hungry. In fact, his stomach was sinking like a rock.

He barely had to look at Clark before the were both speeding off, exploding into the area around, towards the prison. Anywhere that Luthor and his new companion might have gone to try and hide away.

Up and down the streets of four different cities surrounding the island prison that Lex and Ultrahumanite had been held in. Nothing. It wasn't like it was hard to recognize either one of them. Humanite especially. He didn't exactly blend in to the surroundings.

They weren't in any alley's, or in any abandoned buildings. Nor was there a trace of them on rooftops or inside cars, busses, subways, or trains. He'd checked. Planes in the only nearby airport were empty of suspicion too.

Well, there was one man who looked a little like a gorilla, but his hair was brown.

The pair had been missing for almost two hours when another call came over the Comms, this one from Batman, calling for back up. Which was strange to hear, coming from the loner. Not that that would stop him from responding.

It just happened that he was last to arrive.

Naturally.

Batman was looking a little singed when he arrive, with Shayera at his side. Wally had zipped up to Clarks left, skidding forwards on the pavement when he forgot to slow down properly. He'd been distracted by the burn on the Hawks feather-tips and the charred chunks on Bruce's shoulders.

Clark's had on his chest, strong and unmoving, helped steady the speedster out.

Batman, of course, was no nonsense. "Did you find him?"

As one, the other three shook their heads.

"No sign," Clark reported. No one missed the underlying hiss in his voice, a low twisting that was normally absent. He wasn't happy. Worried. For Lex or what he was going to do, it was hard to say.

Wally piped up, "No biggie, it's just those two guys. Lex is sick and Humanite's never been big on world destruction. How much trouble can they give us?"

Batman gave him, the _Look_.

"Famous last words."


	14. Injustice, Part 2 - aka, Lost Things

**duskrider: I figured they needed something to give them a little bit of hope.**

 **Jackalope89: I will fund that personally jesus shit send it here.**

 **AkariWarriorofSoul: Oh he is going to flip his shit.**

 **NeonBlackRoseRevived: I know!**

 **K.J. Bollinger:Thank you!**

 **nekochan1994: I kind of really want to write it now actually! The birds are a story for another time, and Wally is about as subtle as a brick. And yeah, ghost flash is totally canon!**

 **Arekanderu: Thank you!**

 **little miss BANANNA HEAD :Nononono you can't just send me that without any context! I have to know what's happening or I'm going to figure it out myself and it's so good why are you not writing your own story right now?**

 **Kamen Rider Ebon: Thank you so much! I'd like to see your idea?**

 **Guest from March 7th: ^^**

 **Wildjay1585: I hope that this one is just as good!**

 **Trinity103: Thank you! I've been trying really hard to keep everything in order in this story, I'm glad that you like it. Wally is going to have a big choice to make later on.**

 **AvatarMomo: Oh you love him and you know it. That... is a very funny spelling mistake actually. If I was a better artist I would draw it.**

 **Lizeyli: Wally must be protected at all costs! I hope that this chapter is just as good.**

 **Guest from March 14th: Eventually, they will.**

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 **xenon37: Wally is in serious trouble now!**

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 **Guest from March 16th: Here here here!**

 **RedRode0123:Thank you! Here's more!**

 **Guest from March 21: Not too soon, but soon enough.**

 **JustKissMe: I'm afraid that I can't give you all of that! There's still too much to do, too much planned, I have a million ideas for this! In case you didn't notice I've been taking my time with this^^'**

 **Baldur1347: It's not soon but here's an update!**

 **Orihime-San: First off, I love your name! Second, HERE IT IS**

 **Burreto:Thanks!**

 **Stitches: Wally is adjusting as well as can be expected, probably better than anyone else would if we're being honest.**

 **whyyyyyyy: I think that's the right amount of y's? Anyhow, I'm finally getting some time to do all these stories now!**

 **Guest from March 30th: Tell your friends it's updated at last!**

 **Durathror: I will!**

 **haliebri98: Thanks!**

 **Saj te Gyuhyall:** **In the comics, yeah he was a mechanic, but in the episode Flash and Substance he's shown to be a CSI. He finds something on a shoe before leaving for the Flash Museum opening, if I remember right. You do have the timelines mixed up, at least for the show. Injustice For All is a 2 part episode, 18 and 19 of Justice League season 1. The Thanagarian Invasion takes place in the end of the second season, and is the conclusion for the show before Unlimited. Star Crossed, the three episodes that invasion takes place through, are 24 through 26 of that season, and 50 through 52 of the over all season.**

 **gettraught: I definitely am!**

 **Montezuma83: Danke Schone! Forgive my lack of umlaut, my computer hates them.**

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 **Wildjay1585: I'm definitely doing that! I've just been mega busy lately.**

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 **GoldenBug Prime: I just really like Klarion tbh.**

 **SilverPhantom88: I now pronounce you story and reader.**

 **Brokenshadow1107: I've had this on my computer for over a month, I just wasn't able to finish it before.**

 **Cj59: Thanks!**

 **Quorraink: Your suffering is over!**

 **Karah: I will!**

 **Durathror: It is not over at all!**

 **Aaron: It's not abandoned by any means.**

 **Lamarquise: I'll try!**

 **DreamingAboutFandoms: I am!**

 **friedriceforlife: Thank you so much! I'm not sure that the idea is original but the story itself is too much fun for me to car if it isn't.**

 **DS Rider: Barry is talking about his kids, sorry!**

 **Ezekiel: Is this soon enough?**

 **Injustice Part 2, AKA Lost Things.**

* * *

"Any then I ran around so fast I had the fire out before the Firemen even got off their truck," Wally bragged to Shayera, giving Bruce some background noise while he tried to find Lex and the Ultra Humanite. He knew that even if the bat wasn't looking at them he was listening to every word that Wally spoke.

"That fast huh?" Shayera drawled, looking bored.

Wally exaggerated poking his thumb into his chest. "Fastest Man Alive."

"Maybe that's why you can't get a date," she teased airily. Wally was almost impressed by how easily the jibe dripped from her tongue.

"Hey!" he whined, pouting at his teammate. She smiled at him, smug as could be. So many things were the same. Wally was still adjusting to being treated as anything close to an equal by Hawkwoman, rather than as Barry's tag-a-long. It was new. Strange.

The new footage popped up on the screen, drawing all eyes to it. Wally felt his heart drop out of his chest.

"A dangerous hostage situation had unfolded at the Federal Building! So far the Ultrahumanite has refused to speak with negotiators. A freak of science," Wally hated the way he said that, "The humanite is also reported to be extremely dangerous and-"

The sound cut out. Batman's glower was burning into the side of his face.

" _That's_ how much trouble they can give us," he bit out, causing the speedster to lower his head. He had just been trying to lighten everyone tension.

* * *

Flash was not known for being a patient man.

As he waited on a rooftop opposite of the Federal Building he was reciting the Fibonacci in his head, reaching all the way to 65172495098135102433647404982700073500075401759827878315356483347951218369680224170989749666 while he watched for any trouble. For a signal. 91 digits and he still had more to go.

Diana stood vigil next to him, her eyes narrowed at the building. She swished her lasso back and forth restlessly, her heel tapping over and over and over again. It reminded him of Bart enough that Wally smiled to himself, and almost missed when Batman was tag teamed on the other side of a gargantuan window.

He stood suddenly, his green eyes wide. "That's our cue princess," he announced, and vaulted off the building, shooting into the building to help Bruce.

When he cracked Copperhead in the ribs he was careful not to break any of them.

That didn't mean that the villain didn't go flying, with a quip from Wally to accompany him as he toppled through the air, knees over head. Wally made sure he didn't accidently prick himself with those fangs. That venom was nasty and he wasn't sure that if the man had immunity or not.

Cheetah was stopped from gutting either him or Bruce when Diana caught her around the middle and lifted the woman off of the ground, hissing and splitting.

"Take it easy lady," Wally advised, propping his hands on his hips, "This'll all be over before you know it."

Without another word he raced off, intent on catching Humanite before he could get another crack as Superman. He was so focused on Clark he didn't notice the shadows on his heels until it was too late and they had wrapped themselves around him.

He couldn't see, couldn't stop, he was being pushed forwards faster and faster-

His skull cracked against something hard and the darkness of his vision had nothing to do with the attack.

* * *

Dick paced around in circles, restless and wide eyed.

Every few seconds Bart would lap him. Follow the footprints that were there and those that had been swept away by the years. In the middle of what had once been a vortex of energy stood Zatanna and Fate, back to back as they worked with raised arms. Flashes of history went by, the day Wally had died.

The day he had vanished.

He wasn't dead, not yet. They could get him back.

Artemis was standing next to a congregation of machines manned by a bundled up Dr. Roquette and Big Barda, a new arrival to their planet alongside her fiancé, Mister Miracle. They were going over everything they could, science and magic, and anything in between.

So far, there was nothing.

It was making him antsy and irritated.

There had to be something, some way to reach Wally wherever he was. Even the Martians were there, pushing their telepathy to the absolute limit in an attempt to find him somehow.

They had to be able to get him back. They _had to_.

"Dick!" Zatanna's eyes ceased to glow as she called him over. Her hands dropped, shaking lightly at her side and he jogged to take one in his own, his eyes shining with a dangerous emotion.

Hope.

"Did you find him?" he asked. Artemis appeared at his side, muscling her way against his shoulders. Her Tigress costume seemed inappropriate for this venture but he didn't say. He wasn't even in a proper uniform this time, he had no room to talk.

Zatanna looked away. Her lips pressed together in a line he was all too familiar with.

Artemis's face fell. "How could you not find him?" she demanded, her voice rising an octave.

It was Fate, peering around the young sorceress' shoulder that answered their question. "The Speedforce that connects all of your Speedsters is a foreign entity, even to Order. We cannot communicate with it, nor can we find those that ride on its paths. It is beyond our grasp."

"We're out too," Barda announced, appearing on Dick's other side seemingly out of nowhere. "Mother Box knows where he is, but she can't reach him. "

"He is alive though," Artemis stepped towards the larger woman, her eyes wild. They were all desperate for this. After what had happened with Jason, they needed it.

"Yes," Barda confirmed. "For all the good it does."

"If he's alive," Dick said evenly, "We _will_ find him."

* * *

"I keep telling you I don't know anything," Copperhead insisted. Flash sat slouched in a chair, his eyes narrowed on the man as Clark advanced upon him. They needed to make him talk, or they might never find Bruce again.

Wally should have known that he wouldn't stay in the Watch Tower while they went out to fight crime. He should have stayed behind and backed him up.

Damn it.

"I'm just an-"

"Innocent victim of circumstance," the two heroes chorused with the contortionist. They'd been listening to the same thing for half an hour already. Both of their tempers were rising but Wally was holding his significantly better.

"We know," he drawled boredly, crossing his legs. Clark grabbed him by the front of his costume and smacked the villain, light and they all knew it, against a wall.

"Coperhead," his voice rose higher, "When are you going to get some sense and tell us where Luthor is?!"

"Oh," Copperhead drawled, a slimy smile appearing on his face, "This must be that part where I get so scared I spill my guts," he guessed.

"I'm warning you," Superman raised his hand in a fist. Wally sighed. They all knew that it was an empty threat. Clark Kent didn't have the stomach for torture. J'onn had a person dislike for invading peoples minds in this world, or Wally would have asked him to just pull the information out of his skull.

Without warning the speedster rose, cutting off Copperheads mocking with a cool voice and a light touch on the arm that held him elevated.

"Why don't you take a break Big Guy?" he suggested, "Take the guards out for doughnuts or something."

"Doughnuts?" Clarks voice went higher, "We don't have time for-"

"Trust me," Wally wasn't looking at him. His eyes were locked solely on the criminal that held the key to where one of Wally's greatest mentors and friends was being held.

Superman dropped him, looking weary, but made his way to the door none the less. "You sure?" he asked, worry turning his face.

Wally nodded. "Yeah. We'll be just fine."

The door shut behind him and Wally pushed Copperhead's chair to him. The criminal took a seat wearily.

"What's this, am I supposed to be afraid of the Justice League's big red goof off?" he demanded, kicking his feet up onto the table. Wally shook his head.

"No. That's the whole reason I act like I do." His response stopped Copperhead short. Made him grow very still. "Did you know I have red hair?" he asked, seemingly out of no where.

"You- what?" his flip flopping had, apparently, thrown Copperhead off. His eyes were wide with bewilderment and his sharp teeth were visible through the curve of his lips.

"Yeah. I'm a carrot top. That old saying about us not having souls used to be thrown at me every few days in high school," he lifted the edge of his cowl just enough to show a few spots. "The freckles didn't help."

"What are you getting a-"

"I didn't finish," Wally smacked his hand on the table hard enough to make Copperhead jump. "I didn't have a whole lot of friends. So you can imagine, how important the ones I have now to me. Right?"

"What are you going to do if I don't tell you, run me until I throw up?" Copperhead's calm was slipping. His snappy nature was being betrayed by constantly moving eyes. Fiddling hands.

Wally had been at this for years. He had picked up more than a few things from the Bat Family.

He held up his hand, blurring it with speed.

"I can rearrange your organs," he declared. There was no lightness in his voice, no hesitant in the flat line of his mouth. The Flash, the light of the Justice League, the more Vibrant hero on the planet, was terrifying.

Copperhead swallowed thickly.

"He's in an old factory in Metropolis. Down the block from the docks, it used to make glass. "

Wally smiled, snapping back into his perpetual cheer.

"Thanks for your help."


	15. Injustice, Part 3

**Holy shit how are there so many reviews to this story? I'm so flattered! I was super stressed while writing this so I can't guarantee the quality.**

 **reviews;**

 **512: It's possible...**

 **Jackalope89: It does look that way. That would be pretty risky though.**

 **JaggerK: So many years and there would have to be something.**

 **pottyandweazelbe: Flash can be scary, who knew?**

 **UnlockedPotential: Please, spaz as much as you want! I love reading all of your ideas and theories, they feed my writing. I live off of praise, to be honest. Fate can't help, and neither can Motherbox, so there's really only one way to do it. They just don't know how to do it yet.**

 **Saj te Gyuhyall: Oh frick, I don't have a beta so there are a number of errors in here. I'm sorry.**

 **2SexyForMySkirt: They are going to freak!**

 **K.J. Bollinger: Thanks!**

 **CaePenn:You're very welcome!**

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 **Arekanderu: I'm glad to hear it!**

 **V5epsilon: I'll try to!**

 **SaigeTheMage: Thanks! Things are going to be interesting when everything collides.**

 **angiewan601: As of now he is. Before he was the slowest of them all, but once he really got in tune with the Speedforce that changed.**

 **Luce-san: I hope this chapter meets your expectations!**

 **peppymint: I'm glad you think so!**

 **skatingandcruzing: Thank you so much! I'm afraid that this chapter isn't quite up to snuff but I hope it's still good.**

 **SilverPhantom88: Copperhead better watch out.**

 **Alex: Please, harass away!**

 **Grammer: I just. I have given up. I don't have a beta. If you want the job please come get it.**

 **little miss BANANNA HEAD: Oh man if that is permission it is going in. I need to find a place but it will be in there, I swear it. You're amazing, I don't know why you aren't writing. I would read the shit out of anything if it was half as good as that.**

 **Toki: Thank you! Things are really going to be heating up soon ^^**

 **Guest from June 16th: Thanks! I don't know if this is soon but...**

 **Guest from Jun 17th: Very good questions! They will addressed later! Oh god, the Justice Lords. I cannot wait for them to come in, it's going to be so horrible for Wally. Absolutely terrible. Artemis deserves the whole world okay? She is the best of the best, and I love her so much. I share your rage. But I also have this problem where I ship Wally with, well. Everyone. Artemis, Dick, Diana, Clark. Bruce. I have a problem.**

 **Sildjay1585: Ah suspicions. So much fun.**

 **Guest from June 17th: Is this soon enough?**

 **nekochan1994: Scary Flash is such a treat to write! He's going to really mess up the rest of his teammates when this comes out.**

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 **GoldenBug Prime: I almost felt bad for Copperhead when I was writing that.**

 **Oh Hera: Thank you! I can't wait for Batman to find out what he did.**

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 **Guesdt from August 4th: Is this soon enough?**

* * *

Cheetah's lips were surprisingly soft, if oddly shaped. If he didn't know her nature Bruce would have assumed it was a cleft, but he was aware she was more feline than human.

His shackles clicked uncomfortably around him, holding him almost totally still. It was like some horrible mix between a straight jacket and a shark cage. The door opened and the two pulled away, or rather Cheetah pulled away and he turned his head. Bruce's fingers twitching for a bat-a-rang from his belt, one that was not there and he wouldn't have been able to reach regardless.

He stared blankly at the bright red figure that stood in the doorway, staring at him with just as much surprise.

"Um," Flash pushed his palm against his forehead. "Do you want me to come back later?"

Cheetah's arms wound around his neck and the meta pressed her body against his, baring her teeth at the scarlet speedster.

"You weren't invited," she hissed at Flash, who raised his hands.

"Okay. I'll just… yeah," he turned around, his mask reflecting wide eyes, and walked away at a speed too slow for someone like him.

"Flash," Bruce called him back, and the speedster spun around to look at him. His bindings fell away with ease, letting him step out, and draw the surprised meta into a one arm embrace, his hand resting casually on her hip. He turned his face to her, his mind going back to her tail of research and experimentation.

"If you help us, I'll double what Luthor is paying," he declared, "And make sure you get the funding for your research."

Cheetah stared up at him with a great deal of shock.

"You- what? There's no way you have that kind of money," she accused, stepping away from him. Flash moved with a startling amount of silence to stand behind her.

Batman didn't give any hint of a lie. "I do. I'm the one who paid for the Watchtower to be built."

"He's got more money that I have mileage," Flash joked, ducking just before the woman could claw his head off when she spun around.

Cheetah looked between the pair before she turned back to Bruce, a sort of smile on her face. She propped her hands on his hips.

"What did you have in mind?"

* * *

The elevator rose up to the top floor of the factory, drawing the attention of all the villains in the room. Flash crouched in the scaffolding next to Batman. Hawkgirl and Green Lantern had been set up outside opposing windows while Superman stood at the door. Wonder Woman was on the inside of the elevator shaft.

With a small sound the doors pulled apart, revealing Cheetah bent double, her breath coming out harsh and wheezing.

The gathering rushed to the feline just in time for her to fall on her face.

With their backs turned, Batman gave the signal and the League fell upon them.

It reminded Wally, in some ways, of his first fight with the Injustice League. This time though he wasn't fifteen, he wasn't the slowest speedster and it wasn't a team of children going up against some of the worst of the worst.

This time, they were on even footing.

Wally broke away from a scuffle with Star Sapphire to get a look at what was going on. With him gone the woman changed her target to Batman, who was in the middle of a bout with Joker. Superman was intent on beating Ultra Humanite and Luthor, who were alternating between fighting him and J'onn. Meanwhile Wonder Woman and the newly turned Cheetah engaged Solomon Grundy. Cheetah working with them with weird.

Cheetah kissing Batman was less unheard of.

That accounted for everyone but the Shade.

Flash narrowed his eyes, which did not account for the sudden blackness that overtook his senses. The man stilled. That did explain where the Shade was. He operated in the shadows, relied on ambush.

Wally closed his eyes entirely and slacked his shoulders. He had grown up with Robin's, with Batman, and Batgirl. He would never have their innate talent for working in the shadows but that didn't mean he hadn't picked up a few things.

Like, say, how to listen for the air spinning around a cane that was being swung at his skull. The Speed Force crackled a warning that took him by surprise but did nothing to hinder it when he stepped to side and spun, catching the stick and pulling Shade over his hip to send him flying. It was harder since he was tall now, and also not a girl. His center of balance was too high for it to be as fluid as Dinah, or Artemis, but he got it enough that Shade tumbled ass over head into the vanishing darkness. Before he could recover Wally zipped over and snatched his cane from his hand to crack him in the head with.

Shade dealt with and a vague sense of vengeance satisfied Wally threw himself at Grundy's heels, catching him on the achilles just in time for Diana to crack him across the face and send him tumbling to the ground. He laid still.

"The bigger they are," Flash joked, throwing a grin back at Wonder Woman and Cheetah. The latter rolled her eyes at him and went after Luthor with Batman.

Stranger things had happened.

Barely.

Wally darted towards the fire fight between John and Star Sapphire. He tried to distract the woman by pitching random bits of half made toys at her just shy of the speed of sound. He almost got his head taken off for his troubles when he lost track of where she was ricocheting his projectiles.

He did well though, one well aimed blast from John and she was plummeting to the ground. Into Wally's arms, actually. He didn't want her getting hurt too badly, after all.

Wally grinned up at John. "Nice shot!" he praised.

The Lantern was never one for wit, he just turned to survey what else was going on.

What else was going on was that while they had been preoccupied everyone else had finished their fights. Luthor and Humanite were laying on top of each other, unconscious, and the Joker was locked in cuffs and tied up.

Wally let out a relieved breath and went to join the rest of his League, plus Cheetah.

"See," he joked, "Not too much trouble."

Shayera promptly punched him in the arm, making the younger man whine and rub the potential bruise while he pouted at her.

"How did you get Copperhead to talk," Cheetah asked, drawing all eyes to her before everyone else looked over to Superman.

Clark looked at them before he shrugged.

"Ask Flash."

To that, everyone looked bewildered. Wally tried not to be offended. He put on that persona on purpose, after all. It was better if he was bright, light, innocence in the face of evil and all that.

"I asked," he said simply, shrugging. He could tell that not a one of them actually believed it.

Sirens wailed loudly and bright lights flashed through the windows, distracting everyone. Wally was the only one who noticed Cheetah slipping away, into the shadows. After a second's hesitation he went after her, silent as the grave. That was one thing about being as bright as he normally was, was if he really tried no one would notice him slipping away.

Flash caught up to her just before she could climb up to the roof. She came close to taking his face off when he said a simple, "hey."

Cheetah glowered at him, tense. Her fur was literally standing on end.

"What do you want?" she demanded, baring her teeth at him.

Wally shrugged, looking back over his shoulder. He could feel more than see Batman waiting for him in the shadows.

"You don't have to leave, you know," he put forth, turning back to her, "We'd all vouch that you helped us."

Cheetah 'tch'd at him and crossed her arms, looking back out at the roof.

"And then what, I get labelled a 'hero'? Put on the news as a redemption story for other freaks to follow?" she snapped bitterly.

"Er," Wally didn't know what to think of that. "You know, you're preaching to the choir. I had to go through high school pretending I couldn't run the speed of sound."

For a second he thought he might have won some sympathy before the cat turned to glare at him.

"You never had to hide your face from the rest of the world."

Wally tugged the edge of his cowl, smiling sardonically at her. "I'm not going to argue with you. Just, think about it? You could really be a help to us."

"Thanks, but no thanks," she turned around and went running across the rooftop, vaulting onto the one next to it. Wally watched her vanish into the night, her tail stretched out behind her in the wind. Everyone had the potential to be good, including supervillains. Some of them just needed a push.

Batman stepped out of the dark behind him, a shadow against his elbow, warmth in the dark of night.

"How did you get Copperhead to talk?" he asked. It wasn't his normal voice. It was the voice he used during interrogations with criminals. Wally felt his heart sink.

"Does it matter?" he asked instead of answering.

Bruce growled, "Yes."

Wally closed his eyes against the pain of suspicion. It was his fault, after all. He wasn't as careful as he should have been. He knew that Bruce would be the first to figure out that something was wrong with him, but he always thought it would take longer. That he would be able to keep himself out of suspicion until he was ready to open up to them.

"You're my friend," he said, too quiet to be the Flash. Too serious. "I wasn't going to let them hurt you."

When he looked back Bruce's eyes were wider.

Wally didn't think he'd ever surprised Batman before.


	16. Knights and Deams: Part 1

**It's been a while! Here's a new chapter, at last.**

 **Reviews;**

 **Silver Goldentime:Thank you so much! I'm glad to know that you're enjoying it!**

 **SilverPhantom88: Lots of silver in these reviews, wow. Wally is going through a lot! He deserves more than what he'd gotten.**

 **Repetitive Redundancy: It will definitely not! Poor Bats is in for one hell of a ride with thise one.**

 **nekochan1994: That will be fun, won't it?**

 **isadorator: Wally is like a sad cupcake. Everyone knows he's sweet, and everyone likes him, but he's still away from his world and his original loved ones.**

 **Canary512: Thank you! No one has seen the Flash that serious. Imagine how freaked out you would be if the class clown sudden told you he could make hardened criminals spill their guts.**

 **RJDG-Fanatic: Thanks! I will most certainly update!**

 **Jackalope89: Wally tries so hard. And he's such a good person, it's ridiculous sometimes. I don't think Bruce will judge him, but he'll for sure be pretty freaked out. It's such un-Flash-like behavior. Flash-like a Flashlight.**

 **Fallenangelsofolympus: Thank you! I hope this is good enough ^^**

 **K.J. Bollinger: Thanks!**

 **YoKoChi150: Okay, so I speak enough spanish to ask for the bathroom. So I ran that through a translator, and hopefully google got it right. I really like Bruce. I think that he's a character that is very complex, but not in the ways that a lot of people portray him to be. I don't think that he's complex just because he's two different people (Batman and Bruce Wayne) I think he's complicated because he keeps trying. Even when things don't work out, even when people get hurt he doesn't give up. He keeps pushing for a better future and I really like him, and how willing and determined he, a person of privilege and wealth, is to fight for the betterment of everyone, not just his own revenge. I enjoy writing him, and his interactions and feeling towards other people, if only because he feels things so intensely, but still keeps everyone so far away he can't always tell who they really are. And I'm having a lot of fun manipulating that part of him in this story.**

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 **duskrider: A person can only keep a mask on for so long, I'm afraid.**

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 **Lanelle: Unfortunately, yes. Batman hasn't told anyone who he is, besides Clark, so Wally knowing even a little bit is more than suspicious. Especially considering how close to the chest he plays, oh, everything.**

 **That's… actually a good point. One I hadn't thought about before. Huh. I know that she's not a nice person but I don't think that she would kill a kid off just because he's a hero in another dimension? I'll have to sleep on that, thank you.**

 **Guest from August 17th: Yes but Wally is also not fully grown.**

 **Little miss BANANNA HEAD: You're welcome! You can read it if you want to, I don't mind! I'm actually very flattered that you would want to. It's not my birthday, but that was a very nice poem. Things that rhyme with life are. Strife, wife, knife, and rife.**

 **saya4haji: You are so very welcome. Writing this fic is a pleasure, even if it takes me forever to get everything how I want it. It means the world to know other people enjoy it so much, thank you.**

 **AvatarMomo: I am! It's not really soon but a new chapter is here!**

 **Guest from August 23: Thanks! I try really hard to make sure that everyone is at least kinda right, if not totally spot on. Bruce and Wally are definitely going to have one of the most complicated relationships out of the League, and honestly I don't know how it's going to go just yet. I'm still laying out a path for everyone. The Justice Lords is actually what I'm most looking forwards towards going into, because it is going to be so full of** _ **pain**_ **.**

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 **DarkFastLight: Isn't he cute?**

 **My failed Attempt at Pancakes: Of course they'll reunite! And it'll be sad and sweet and kind of a long way off? Fair warning. And I'm sorry to leave you hanging for so long. Honestly, none of my stories are complete. I've never finished one.**

 **Guest from September 7th: Thanks!**

 **Marie Truesight: Well, I certainly do accept them.**

 **Guest from September 21st: Scaffolding I believe was what I called it. And thanks! It's a detail I really enjoy playing around with ^^ Was that a monty python joke?**

 **Mylifedependsoncandy: I like the name. And you're totally right, Wally is awesome! I love him and I love this story, I'm glad you like it too.**

 **Osprey Eamon: Thank you! That was my favorite part to write, honestly. The only reason Waller figured it out so much quicker is because she was looking into the Anomaly at the south pole, and that brought her to Flash in the first place. Now that Bruce it really looking, it won't take him long.**

 **xTonyaJacex: You're flattering me! It really means alot to get any sort of review, but ones as long as this one really mean something to me.**

 **For the most part this is probably going to be gen, but there is going to be some romance in it. For instance, I'm adding some stuff in a couple of chapters that lean towards romance (are romance) but it's not the official ship for the story. I don't have one picked out, if there will be one at all. If you squint you can see some vague hinting at Wally and Clark, and Wally and Conner? I don't know if that will actually go anywhere or if I'll stick to spitfire.**

 **It's really up in the air.**

 **I wish I could send you some links to other stories but I haven't actually read many like mine since I started writing this one a year ago. The reason I started it, actually, it because the ones that I found were, while not** _ **bad**_ **, they just felt unfulfilling to me, I couldn't find what I was looking for so I made it myself. Since then I've actually kind of avoided other 'Wally didn't die he went to Justice League' sort of things, because in all honesty I've found that when I read stories too alike my own I have a habit of slipping in things from the other stories into mine, which isn't fair to other authors, or readers, and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I realize I've done it.**

 **Guest from October 15th: Thanks! I will!**

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* * *

There were times when Wally didn't care as much for his speed as he normally did. That normally happened when he was worried about something and his brain would run around at supersonic speeds and leave him wallowing in the same issue for what felt like eternity for him but was really only a few seconds for the rest of the world.

It made waiting for things _horrible_. Especially when those things were bad. Like, say, waiting for Batman to appear in his apartment and dump upon him all the things he had ever tried to hide, all the secret's, all the half-lies. The incident at the South Pole, his petty theft when he was half starved and homeless, so deep in mourning he could barely see the 'help wanted' sign in a deli door.

He distracted himself by saving people. By flirting with bright eyed girls and paling around with pretty boys. By hunting down killers and making lunch runs for everyone.

It was during one of these lunch runs, one he was doing for a movie marathon with Hartley and James, that he passed the Central City College and saw a girl go vaulting over the fence that surrounded it while an ancient man with a beard to rival Dumbledore shouted at her back.

She was looking at him, not ahead, so Wally put himself and his bright red suit between her and and the lunchtime traffic. She hit his chest and he caught her elbows.

When she startled and jerked back, kicking out at his shin, he let it connect and bounced back, gripping his knee comically while he whined offense. It was harmless. The man was still yelling, threatening to report her.

"You're the-"

"Flash? Yeah," he agreed, cutting off her wide eyed, and then horrified realization. "Who are you? And uh, who's he?" he pointed over her shoulder.

The girl turned, sending multicolored hair flying. It may have been normal in 2016, but in 2002 it was vastly out of place. Glaring blue and short enough to stand on end.

"I'm Kati Frank," she said with a smile that plummeted into a glare when she peered around her shoulder to the fossil staring at them. "And that's Larry Stromer. My French Professor."

"What did he do?" Flash asked. Kati's glare darkened further. He felt his muscles tense in immediate defense for the young woman. His brought his hands from her elbows to her shoulders and she leaned closer, or at least away from Stromer.

"He told me that I should sit with my legs crossed if I didn't want me to find a way into them," she said bitterly. "That was just today. He's been saying shit like- stuff like-"

"Shit like," Wally cut into her correction that was shit. To put it mildly.

Kati nodded. " _Shit like_ that all year."

Wally looked back at the man, who was clearly starting to get fluster, and, in perfect french, he shouted, "Sucer mon cul!"

Larry Stromer jerked back, his eyes widening and his face getting almost as red as Wally's suite. Kati looked between the two men, confusion written across her features. Wally patted her shoulder, guided her away.

"How do you like Mario Kart?" he asked, instead of teaching her what he'd said.

The young woman looked truly bewildered. "A lot?"

Wally grinned and scooped her off her feet.

"Great!"

* * *

Perhaps the strangest thing about being in the past, was watching the future unfold again. Not the same old monster attacks, not the same invasion attempts. Some Things were different. But watching children grow, watching presidents be elected.

Getting to see people watching the Star Wars Prequel films for the first time ever, getting to see The Phantom Menace in theatre's. Seeing children running around during the Harry Potter premiers, watching them carry around the books with vigor that he had held in reserve for chemistry when he was their age.

He felt old and young when the term 'blog' was coined for the _first time_.

His favorite thing was watching meme's form.

Wally had been born, originally, in 1994. So seeing the meme's of 2002 through the eyes of an adult, as opposed to the eyes to an eight year old who was only allowed one hour of computer time a day, was one of the most surreal experiences of his life.

The meme's were _different_ here too.

Instead of a rabbit with a pancake on it's head, what appeared was a very lackluster bloodhound that had a tortilla halfway over it's eyes.

Rather than a man in a Peter Pan costume looking for Wendy, it was a Robin Hood wannabe with his quiver placed to mock a condom.

The one thing that was consistent, at least, was 'peanut butter jelly time'.

Unfortunately for James, Hartley didn't share his amusement in the face of the song.

"Do you guys always hang out like this?" Kati asked, watching Hartley chase after the Trickster with a remote control lifted over his head while the youngest of the trio confirmed himself to be well in touch with modern society.

Wally shrugged.

"When we aren't fighting. There's no reason not to, I mean, what's harm? This isn't Gotham," he waved his hand lazily. "They aren't serial killers, or terrorists, or whatever. They're just Rogue."

" _Just_ , Rogues." James halted his run and turned to Wally with his hands on his hips. "I'll have you know, Mr. Tall, Red, and Hands-ee!"

He was cut off when Hartley pushed him, sending the boy hurtling sideways into a pile of pudding mix that Wally was afraid to ask about. Vanilla dust puffed up around his wildly colored body before the light hearted boy pulled himself out, looking distinctly more pastel than he had before.

"Handsy?" Wally smiled lightly, "I'm a perfect gentlemen."

* * *

A real gentlemen was Jason Blood. Wally had met him once or twice, before he retired. This would be the first time he made his acquaintance in this world.

Or so he assumed, until he was standing next to the Javelin, watching Batman walk out of the massive castle on the ridge with a yellow bulldog in a red tunic. Etrigan, the Demon, approached along with the Bat, his eyes scanning each of the league members that had showed up to try and help, stopping on Wally and J'onn. The redhead squirmed. It felt like the demon was looking into the soul he wasn't' meant to have.

To distract himself he sat on a rock and counter the turrets, windows, doors, and potential rooms inside of the castle. He knew the story. He knew that Etrigan had been tailing Morgana le Fay since the fall of Camelot. He was honestly surprised that Klarion hadn't recruited her during his plan to separate the worlds.

Then again, she probably would have objected to being away from her son. From what Wally understood she was loyal to him alone. Even a Lord of Chaos couldn't break a mother's love, Wally had seen that in his own, in Artemis' and Kaldur's.

He turned back in right at, "And I will never rest until her soul burns in the eternal pits!" Wally looked over at J'onn, the person closest to him.

"And I thought Bats was creepy," he joked, only to nearly jump out of his skin when a yellow face appeared right next to him. Wally leaned back, far as could, while the demon growled in his face.

Bewildered, he growled back weakly before looking for help. All he got for his troubles was a confused demon and a bat that was shaking his head.

"How did she evade you for centuries?" Batman prompted, getting them back on track. Something for which Wally was grateful.

"The witch has an amulet that can sense when I'm drawing near," Etrigan scowled. Wally leaned back on the rock, watching J'onn make his way to the demons side.

"Perhaps you should consider alternative methods," the martian suggested. Wally was always impressed with how zen he could sound. He never freaked out or lost his cool. It was admirable. The Flash couldn't say the same thing about himself, of course. Not without lying through his teeth.

"And what do you suggest?" The demon demanded, snappish. It made the redhead stiffen in defense of his friend, but a hand on his shoulder chilled his blood. He glanced up at J'onn, who wasn't looking at him when he made his offer.

"I could try and locate her, telepathically."

Wally was about ninety percent sure that that was a horrible idea. Magicians, especially the old ones, didn't often take well to telepathic probes. He could remember when M'gann tried to get inside the head of Blackbriar Thorn. If she wasn't as strong as she was, it would have been messier than it had been. And M'gann being comatose for more than a day, after all of her training and progress, was horrifying enough.

The speedster kept quiet though. J'onn was strong too. He had a fortitude that Wally had never encountered in anyone before, even Bruce. He was sure that the martian would be fine.

He was wrong.

A scream tore itself from J'onn throat mere minutes after he started his search. His hands shot up, gripping his skull before his eyes rolled and closed and the green man fell forwards.

Wally caught him before he could hit the ground.

"J'onn?" he shook his friend's shoulder, "J'onn!"

"Get him on the Javelin," Bruce ordered. Wally rushed to obey, sweeping the green man away from the earth and darting him into a seat in the back of the jet. The rest of the the League ran after him.

Wally set him down gently. His eyes didn't stray from his friend when he asked, "What's happening to him?"

"The witch has gotten into his mind. Poisoned him," Etrigan said. His voice was dark.

Wally's chest tightened. He started cursing, mentally, freaking out at the thought of his friend being in such a state. This was bad, bad, badbadbadbad-

"We need to get him out," Bruce interrupted his thoughts. Wally took a breath, counting down. He put his hand on the Bats shoulder so he could time his breaths and regain his sense of time. The Dark Knight gave him a weird look, but didn't push him off.

"I can-"

"Let me try something," Wally cut off the demon. He stepped closer to J'onn, swallowing thickly.

"Are you telepathic?"Diana quirried.

Wally shook his head. "No, but I've known a telepath before. I picked up a few things."

For instance, any telepathic link that was made, unless completely severed, left behind cobwebs of the rope that had once been the connection. Wally took a breath and reached out for the weak remnants of what J'onn had used to pull him into the sierra nevada so many months ago.

He called, through the weak connection, ' _J'onn!_ '. Nothing. Wally pushed his mind out, reaching out like he'd done for years with M'gann. He wasn't prepared for the sudden pull, the suction into a place where he was not meant to be.

Vertigo wrapped around his brain and he felt like he was falling through fog, until he landed with a smack against the kitchen table.

"Wow. Smooth move, _Wall-man_."

The voice was horribly, painfully familiar. Wally sat up, rubbing his head. He looked upwards, past long legs, up to blond hair and bright, brown eyes. They were warm with humor and care.

Wally swallowed thickly.

"Artemis?"


	17. Thanksgiving

**Happy Thanksgiving! Super short but here, have a special!**

* * *

Thanksgiving was a big holiday for the West family, for more than one reason. There was, of course, the part where speedsters never stopped eating, and the football game that was important too, well to Wally's dad mostly, and after Dinner they would all take a long walk through Central City, City Central Park. The name was redundant but the leaves always blazed red and yellow in the Missouri autumn. There was a tortoiseshell can that had been sitting on a bench in the middle for as long as Wally had been alive, and every year he and his Family would go and feed it boiled turkey giblets.

He had never been able to take Bart out to do it. He had disappeared before then.

In this new world, where he might as well have been an Orphan, he had started a new tradition.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" He waved cheerfully at the camera. The flash snapped in his eyes, through the white of his cowl. The children around him started laughing when he pitched himself backwards comically, rubbing his eyes as though he'd been blinded.

He flopped into his seat at the long table in the dining room of the Central City Orphanage, in between Jennifer Jamesson and Andrea Trulow.

Jennifer, the tallest of the children in the ward of the state, passed him a bowl of Potatoes big enough for Andrea to swim in. Given that Andrea was five, it wasn't that impressive, but for an orphanage it was an amazing turn out.

For once in his life Wally West took less than a regular person.

He would have Thanksgiving at the Police Station, and again at the Watchtower later tonight, once his shift was over, and with the bonus he would get for working on a holiday it would cover his rent and give him enough leftover to buy his own turkey without wasting his usual budget.

CSI's did not get paid enough.

All around the table food was passed, donated green beans, leftover Turkey and gifted stuffing made from boxes or home bread. Wally had charged himself with helping the local food drives that year, and between him and the good people of Central City they had gotten enough together to feed all of the residents of the Orphanage and almost the entire homeless population. He had spent the morning behind a long buffet line, dishing out pumpkin pie to vets, addicts, and teenagers. Each one came equipped with a phone number on the napkin beneath. Just in case.

"Hey, Flash?" a voice cut in a few minutes after everyone's plate was full.

Wally leaned in, craning his neck so he could see who had spoken. Bright brown eyes met his, one with a golden spot in the iris. Francis Cooper, who had been there for far too long. The statistics were against him. The older he got, the less likely he was to get adopted, not to mention that his mother left him with enough spanish blood that the statistics were against him too. He barely had a fifteen percent chance of being adopted, and now that he was older than ten that had dropped in half, at least.

"What's up?" He asked. A roll was tossed at his head and he caught it with ease.

"Why don't you spend Thanksgiving with your family?" he asked. The rest of the table quieted and all eyes were on him.

Wally paused, thinking about it carefully. What did he say? That they were dead? He couldn't lie to these kids.

He looked down at his plate. His mom made the same kind of cranberry sauce for their table. He wondered if she had been the one to bring in the covered dish. It would be just like her.

He let out a breath.

"When I was younger I ran, a lot. I started and I never wanted to stop. Then one day, when I looked around, they were all... Gone. My mom, my dad, my aunt and uncle. Even my cousin. I'll never see them again," he said quietly. Eyes around the table grew wide or softened with empathy.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Mara Marie Morisson asked from across him. She was close to aging out. He had arranged an internship for her at S.T.A.R. Labs last fall, and she was granted a scholarship from them for biochemistry in the coming school year.

"I did," his smile turned wistful. "But she's gone too."

The silence was deafening. This wasn't what Holidays were meant to be about. Wally pulled his smile wider.

"But hey, that just means I get to spend more time with you guys, right?" he lifted his voice, letting it soar into the rafters.

The children laughed, but those old enough to truly understand looked at him with sadness behind their bared teeth and carved in smiles. They understood. They cared enough to hurt for him, to hurt with him.

His ribs felt too small.


	18. Knights and Deams: Part 2

**So. This might be my longest chapter to date. The chapter itself is 4,600 words. That's about twice what I usually put out.**

 **Reviews;**

 **Repetitive Redundancy: Not quite. You'll see ^^**

 **K.J. Bollinger: Thank you!**

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 **Silver Goldentime: Why thank you! I hope this one is just as good, but the beginning felt a little wobbly for me. Maybe it's just because I was the writer.**

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 **Canary512: Oh Wally is going to be _pissed_. **

**RJDG-Fanatic: Thanks!**

 **Emu-Thing: You have a super cute picture, I love those foxes!**

 **SaigeTheMage: Oh, you are very correct. Wally will not be a happy camper.**

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 **Ladyknightwing58: Many thanks!**

 **Ambiguous Cake: You're a little off! But very close.**

 **duskrider: I try.**

 **My failed Attempt at Pancakes: Oh, I'm in total denial. In case you couldn't tell from the 40,000 words I typed for it.**

 **isadorator: I'll give it to you a little early, since you want to see it so much ^^**

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 **Rocker on: goddamn, that's a lot of reviews. Like, a whole page and a half of them. Thank you so much! I honestly don't even know what to say.  
**

 **Panther4life: Very effective threat.**

 **Burreto: With any luck, I've saved your life.**

 **Wicked Neko: You too, that's a lot of reviews all at once! And all of them are great. If that says a lot about you, it says even more about me that I'm writing all this shit. And I'm glad you like Wally and his (boy)friends. I have no idea what I'm doing romance wise. Like, no idea at all.**

 **Guest from November 20th: Good luck on the account! I try to reply to everyone. I didn't do it last time because that would take up a lot more room than I wanted it to.**

 **Wynter Sprite: I'm glad that you like it! The Rogues have always been some of my favorite characters in general, and when I saw Flash and Substance I flipped. Make sure you get some sleep this time!**

 **Repetitive Redundancy: Happy Thanksgiving!**

 **nekochan1994: That was absolutely the point of this chapter.**

 **Hys Majister: I'll hit you again this chapter.**

 **Dnar Semaj: I thought so too.**

 **JustKissMe: well he's pretty much and Orphan now too, so he can fit in with the rest of them ^^**

* * *

"How asleep were you?" Artemis asked, tilting her head just so. The pink light pouring in from the window caught her hair, lighting it up to shine like gold. It sparked in her eyes, where a familiar fire burned. Wally wanted nothing more than to bask in it's glow.

Instead, he picked himself up and looked at the table. There was an empty chip bag, a cold cup of coffee and papers spread out everywhere. The notes and numbers reflected the thoughts behind String Theory. His laptop was open in the middle of everything.

"Asleep?" he rubbing his fingers through his hair. His head felt fuzzy in a way that didn't involve concussions.

"Yeah. You fell asleep doing a paper. Which is almost overdue," she smiled at him in that same smug way she had when he was about to mess up. In the way that had saved his ass on more than one occasion.

"Oh crap!" Anna didn't accept late work. Wally scrambled for his laptop, yanking it to him. He squinted at the screen. Where was he…

'Also, note that we could follow the light-cone quantization approach by using the superconformal symmetry to fix a light-cone gauge which, as we already saw, gives us a theory which is free of ghost states but is no longer manifestly Lorentz invariant.'

That was weird. He recognized the words, but he didn't remember writing them. And they didn't look like something he'd written. The tone was wrong and vocabulary didn't quite fit his usual papers. But it was on his computer, saved into a word document. So who's else would it be?

"Hey, babe, how long was I out?" If he couldn't even remember his paper he must have really lost it for a while there. It wouldn't be the first time in college, but still. And what had he been dreaming before? Something about a yellow demon and a satellite.

"A few hours," Artemis broke off his train of thought. When he looked back at her his throat caught. She was so beautiful. He felt like he was looking at her for the first time, like he had come home after a long trip that he didn't remember taking.

His heart ached and he abandoned his panicked writing to sweep her into a hug.

"Wally?" she sounded confused, but still hugged him back. Her arms were strong, holding him against him with power that her long sleeves did not betray.

"I- Sorry, I missed you," he said quietly. He didn't get it. He hadn't been gone. There wasn't even an upcoming vacation.

There was something wrong.

She smelled like she always did, just the same. Like old leather and orange blossoms. It was a crappy present he'd gotten her for Day-After-Valentine's Day a few years after. She wore it whenever they went on a date. Wally didn't know if she liked it, or if she liked the look on his face whenever she had it on.

"What are you talking about, I'm right here. I haven't left," Artemis objected. She was right there, warm and strong, fitting perfect in his arms.

That was the problem.

Nothing was ever this perfect. There was always an elbow in the wrong place, an inch of height that didn't quite match up. A strand of hair that caught in his mouth.

This had none of those. This was amazing, like they had been made to fit together. It was a dream come true.

The fuzz in his brain started to fade and Wally shook his head. He wanted to keep it. He wanted to stay there, in his house with Artemis, and Brucely leaning on his leg, looking up at him with worried brown eyes.

But he had people relying on him.

He had people relying on him.

Wally sucked in a breath. An image crashed over his skull, through his brain.

A Martian who was not like his Martians, screaming as he crumpled to the ground. A demon with a grudge against a witch.

A witch. Not Klarion, not Blackbriar Thorn. Not Zatanna.

Morgana le Fay.

J'onn was probably lost in his own mind, and he didn't have the kind of anchor that Wally did. He didn't have five months of memory loss, an explosion and a sacrifice, a coma and a loss in an illusion that was all too Real. J'onn had probably never been exposed to a hostile telepath. He had never had his mind attacked. On top of that, J'onn was-

He was alone. He needed someone to come find him.

Wally let go of Artemis and stepped back. He didn't know if it was the illusion falling apart or his eyes that was the cause of her worried face blurring.

She grabbed his arm. "Wally, don't do this. You don't need to go anywhere," her voice was rough, like she was ready to cry too. Only, his Artemis wouldn't be telling him to stay. She would be kicking his ass if he didn't go.

That clinched it.

"Yeah, babe, I do. I- I love you," he kissed the Artemis that wasn't Artemis and felt like he was committing treason. Then he pulled his arm from her hand and ran for the door.

This wasn't Palo Alto. That wasn't Artemis.

He needed to find J'onn.

He pushed the door open and walked into a living room that looked nothing like his. Kneeling in the middle of everything was a martian surrounded by two children and what had to be his wife.

"J'onn!" Wally ran to him, his regular clothes caught the wind, keeping him from running full speed to the alien.

The green man caught sight of him and went very, very tense.

"Who are you?" his voice was not like J'onns. It wasn't calm or smooth or even. It was higher, cracking with pitch and fear. J'onn knew exactly who he was, just like Wally had known from the beginning who Artemis was not.

"You know who I am. I'm the Flash. Er, Wally West like this, I guess," he looked down at himself, lifting his arms. He was in a sweat shirt for a college that wouldn't exist for another eight years.

"You cannot be here!" J'onn argued. "If you are here-"

"Then they're not real?" Wally suggested, gesturing to the tiny martians that were clutching at J'onn's legs. His heart lurched at the sight before he shook it off.

"They are real! They are my family, and you will stay away from them!" J'onn stepped between Wally and his wife, pushing the children back. Wally's mind turned through options. There was only one thing he knew for sure got a person out of this kind of situation, and J'onn wasn't going to be reasoned with. Not like this.

Shit.

He stepped up, ignoring when J'onn lashed out at him. He stepp in, his eyes solemn. He poured speed into his arm until it was blurring at his side.

"I'm sorry," he said genuinely, and thrust his arm into the Martian's chest before he could try and stop him.

* * *

"How did you know how to escape the witch's spell?"

Wally turned from where he had been staring out the window of the Javelin to find Etrigan squinting at him. The young man scratched his cheek, considering.

"When you're stuck inside your own head, your own wants, there's only two ways out that I know of. Being conscious of it and choosing to leave, which he wasn't going to do, and being shocked out of it."

"That doesn't explain how you knew how to do it," Bruce said from the front. The girls were looking at him too. J'onn had yet to say more than a slow apology for his weakness. Wally wanted nothing more than to explain everything to him. And he would. Once he stopped seeing sad eyes and blond hair in the reflection of the plane window.

"I got trapped by a telepath a few years ago. She didn't know what she was doing, and the only way we got out was- well, I killed myself, but her uncle stabbed her and freed everyone from their comas," he said absently before looking back.

It didn't occur to him exactly what he'd revealed until he say Diana's face over the shoulder Artemis' was not.

"You killed yourself?" she sounded, justifiably, horrified.

Wally faltered. "We were stuck in a no-win scenario. It was either I blow myself up, or the rest of the world was killed one by one. I picked the option I could see at the time." He was also fifteen. That had to count for something. Except they didn't know that, they didn't know, but J'onn-

"Who was the telepath?"

Wally could have sung blessings to Bruce for keeping him on target, or curses for making him think of her.

"Megan," he said truthfully, "she was a friend of mine _._ "

Wally leaned his head back against the seat and let out a breath. He threw a thought out cautiously.

 _'J'onn?'_

It was what felt like forever before a link opened like an umbrella between them. It was a familiar feeling that he didn't realize he'd missed so much.

' _What is in Palo Alto?_ ' The martian asked. Wally hadn't known what to expect, but he wasn't surprised that that was what he got.

 _'Right now, nothing.'_

 _'You have memories of something.'_

' _Artemis_ ,' the thought carried with softness. He saw J'onn's head move slightly and went on. ' _She was my girlfriend for five years_.'

' _Was_?'

Wally swallowed thickly, drawing a look from Diana. 'Death pulled us apart.'

' _That is not all there is to the story_.' It wasn't quite an accusation. Wally leaned his head back on the seat, took a breath and opened his mind to J'onn and his reach.

' _It's kind of a long story,_ ' he warned.

 _'This will be a very long flight.'_

Wally let him in.

 _He's fifteen. He's just met the most infuriating girl of his life. They spend half their time fighting and the other half fighting other people for each other. Every time he looks at her Kent Nelson's last words echo in his head. She never lets him get away with anything._

 _He sees her die. It's just a simulation but he doesn't know that. He's desperate and in pain, trapped in a world that he can't tell isn't real. It vanishes in a wave a fire that consumes him and his best friend._

 _He's in denial. It's a good coping method._

 _He's sixteen. The world is changing, he's growing. He's going to defend it, and fight with her, but she won't let him. She won't let any of them in._

 _It almost costs them the mission. She almost turns on them. There are a lot of Almost. Like the night he almost kissed her when the Zeta's were down and they were all stuck in the cave*. The time he almost screwed everything up but it sounded fine outloud. The night they almost lost their mentors._

 _He remembers the first time he carried her through the sands and away from danger. The explosions that rocked his feet and almost cost him his balance. He hadn't noticed at the time just how perfectly she fit in his arms._

 _He realized it New Years Eve._

 _He's seventeen and going into his senior year. School sucks, but when doesn't it? He's always the outlier on science tests and he never does as well as he thinks he should on english assignments. Artemis excels at getting a point across, with an arrow or sharp words, it doesn't even make a difference. They apply for the same colleges. It will be the first time either one is without a parent._

 _Her birthday present is shoddy, a mash up of shitty poetry and a necklace with an arrow on it. He makes up for it by swearing his love for the first time._

 _He's eighteen. Their first night in the new apartment and a storm rages over their head. They light candles and he pulls her to her feet to dance to the song of rain on the rooftop. He's never felt like that much of a cheeseball in his life._

 _He can't wrap his head around life where he's totally in charge of himself. He's caught between sleeping way too early or making midnight taco runs. Artemis thinks he's just a big kid and he really can't blame her. He can't get drunk no matter how hard he tries and she doesn't like alcohol. If people weren't so afraid of getting a kick in the ass they might try and make fun of the pair._

 _That year is the second time he thinks she dies. It's an illusion, strung together by Blackbriar Thorn and the Enchantress. He watches her get speared by a dozen plants, her tan skin shredded by thorns and her blood coloring once white roses._

 _He bring daffodils to their date._

 _He's ninteen and in love. With a girl, with his job, with his life. He doesn't think anyone has ever had so much love in them all at once time and sometimes he thinks he'll explode from it. His favorite pastime is sweeping her off her feet and taking her halfway across the country for lunch._

 _It's on their way back from San Francisco that he skids to a stop at the side of the road. There's a pit bull sitting there with a crate and sign. They take the 'free dog' home with them to Palo Alto._

 _Dick names it the next time he comes to see them._

 _He's twenty and he's had enough. That was the roughest year. That was the year that Jason died in January. That was the year Tula died in February._

 _That was the year he and Artemis left the Life behind them. The world had enough Heroes. It would be fine without Artemis and Kid Flash._

 _He's twenty one and he's dying._

 _He knows it. Bart and Barry know it too. He's taking too much of the radiation and his body can't handle the strain. It feels like burning but it's cold, it feels like freezing but it's hot, it feels like when he tries to walk through walls but he's not fast enough. Never fast enough. He won't get to tell Artemis he loves her again. Won't get to tell Dick he forgives him for pulling them back in._

 _He won't get to see his mom or dad anymore. His uncle, his cousin, his team._

 _He looked at Barry._

 _"Just tell them, okay?"_

He can feel J'onn's eyes boring into him. He sunk lower in the chair. A wave of something warm rolled over him from the connection and for a moment he got lost in it, so swept up he forgot to identify it for what it is.

Friendship. Trust. Care.

He shared a smile with the martian. A weight was lifted off of his chest and he could breath easier.

 _'You aren't alone,_ ' Wally told him, putting as much force behind it as he could. _'Even if you don't have your wife or your kids, you have us. We can be family too. If you let us.'_

J'onn didn't say anything, but he did nod, ever so slightly.

* * *

When Wally got the chance, and he did get the chance, he clocked Morgan le Fay with the force of a Blackbird.

The sorceress went flying backwards, smashing through three separate walls before she came to a halt in a crumbling pillar. Diana grabbed the box containing the philosophers stone with renewed force.

Wally shook his hand out, watching the witch pick herself out of the rubble. Part of her golden mask went crumbling off. One shard stuck into the skin on her cheek. Wally had a hard time feeling apologetic to this particular villain.

He also felt little pity for the demon at this point, who was staring at him like he'd grown an extra head. After he accused J'onn of being at fault for what happened , Wally stopped caring about his personal vendetta against le Fay.

He was too occupied with his own growing dislike for her.

"Between this one and Klarion, I'm starting to wonder how great magic really is," he muttered, mostly to himself. There was also Nabu, who had technically orphaned one of his friends. He didn't like him much either.

Wally hung back while Etrigan got his butt handed to him, trying to focus on the witch.

Magic had three parts. Power, focus, and effect. The effect of her's was pretty clear. The energy she used to blast the demon and make shields for herself. The power it was assumable that she supplied herself or had something on her that acted like a battery. And the focus…

It had to be her mask. When she made a shield the lower right side was weaker, in the same place that Wally had broken her mask. Whenever she used her magic the eyes glowed ethereally.

If he wanted to break her magic up he needed to break the balance up. Just like if you wanted to put out a fire you had to starve, suffocate, or freeze it. He may have also wanted to break her face. Badly.

That would be easier said than done.

Especially since they were both totally outclassed.

With a groan Wally ran into the fray, snatching Etrigan up and over his shoulder before Morgan could finish what she started, like she said she planned to. The demon growled in his ear and looked down at the speedster.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. Wally had only had a hand full of people sound so angry to have their lives saved before. He considered dropped Etrigan on the ground before he decided against it. That might not end well.

"You can thank me later," he said plainly, running them to the plane. They needed to secure the stone, and get this god forsaken mission over with.

The sooner the better.

He dropped Etrigan and turned to do something truly, horribly, stupid.

He ran back alone.

She had turned by the time he shot back in, the world sliding slower as his perception picked up and his body took on velocity that nearly shedded his almost-worn-through-suit, switched to it's grey and black coloration. Wally hit the wall, flipping off of it to smash Morgan le Fay into the opposite side of the building.

She shouted, lashed out. Wally blurred his hand just enough to slide through her skin and shatter both bones. It left the inside of arm a bloody pulp that hung limply at a noodle like angle. His elbow smashed into her face, cracking the mask further. A piece fell off, showing crinkled skin beneath it.

Wally was glad the others had left. Glad he'd come back alone.

He knew this wasn't for justice. Justice was about bringing people before a court, so they could be punished for their crime by impartial witnesses. Justice was about protecting people. Justice felt like birds flying a puzzle that finally fell into place.

This wasn't justice. This was ugly, this was gut churning, this was hot and his head hurt and there was a screaming in his skull that he didn't recognize.

He thrust his hand forwards, fingers curled away from his palm and smashing it in, breaking right through her collar bone. It gave way under his force. Her shriek sounded in his ears and that was enough. That was his satisfaction. He was shifting his weight, ready to grab the cords in his pocket that would bind her. He was interrupted though.

"Mother!"

The scream tore through the air and his heart and Wally jumped back in time to avoid a sword slashing at his head.

A little blond boy put himself furiously between Wally and his mom, who was laying the ground, curling her arm and keeping away from the scarlet speedster. He felt bad, but only because it had been in front of Mordred. He may have been a sociopathic little shit, but that was still his mom.

The boy lunged, slashing at Wally, who stepped out of the way with the ease of what he was. Someone who had been doing this for fourteen years.

His payback was done. And while Wally doubted he would ever be free of a distaste for the woman, a hatred for her in fact, but he had no more reason to try and tear her apart. It wasn't in his nature.

It never had been.

Wally tapped the sword as it passed him, listened to the vibrations, and shook his body to nearly match it. A pitch almost exact, when he reached to catch it the iron shattered.

The boy dropped the hilt, crying out and holding his hands to him. It couldn't have actually hurt. It would sting, give friction burns at the very worst. Wally wasn't that mean.

The time Mordred had bought was, unfortunately, enough for Morgan to summon a pool of light for them to sink into.

Flash stared at the floor where they vanished for longer than he should have. Long enough for Etrigan to make his way from the plane back to the speedsters side.

"She got away," he said. Wally didn't have the energy to act dramatic right then.

The demon just growled at him.

* * *

Having the Watchtower under attack was more than just a little disconcerting. Having it under attack by trolls summoned from another dimension, even more so.

Wally had this thing, about extra-dimensional being.

That thing was, simply put, they sucked. And yes, so he was also an interdimensional time traveler (wasn't that just a mouthful), that didn't mean the other ones weren't twice as annoying and thrice as dangerous. Between Klarion and these trolls Wally wondered if there was a decent not-parallel-timeline in whole of existence.

He kind of doubted it.

Wally ducked away from an axe, wondering if this was what comicon was like before he was bludgeoned from behind.

The world spun and he felt sick with a concussion that wasn't severe enough to stick around for more than a couple of minutes. Those minutes were enough time for the trolls to swarm him, pounding his ribs and stomach until he wanted to throw up just to relieve the pressure in it.

'J'onn!' he shouted for his friend, reaching. What ho got was a flash of that same magic. The troll coming at him warped into his mother. The trying to decapitate Diana turned into Dick.

Wally dropped and swept his leg out, knocking his 'mother' forwards. It wasn't that the spell wasn't working. He was seeing what he was meant to. His loved ones, or nothing at all when there was an enemy there. There was just one problem. One thing that the spell didn't account for.

He had an extra sense.

The speedforce sang beneath his skin, crackling in the air. When the rest of his senses failed him, that alone, a sense unique to himself, guarded him. It told him when something was approaching, when he was in danger of a collision.

That was all he needed to know. He didn't need to know the faces of the creatures throwing themselves at him, he didn't need to see the empty spaces between them that weren't really there. All he had to know was where they were moving. They were all the same height, their speed changed when they had a weapon. Centrifugal force altered their signature in his senses.

Wally didn't get away from everything. He got cut and bruised and hurt. This wasn't a science and he was still getting used to a sense he hadn't had for twenty one years of his life. He needed to train it further.

There was no time for that now.

A voice cut through the illusions, heavy with the weight of magic and power. Etrigan shouted at him, called his name, dragged him out of the hallucinations.

"Flash! We need a maelstrom."

A maelstrom? There was no water. Even still, why would a fire demon want-

Maybe not a whirlpool, but a whirlwind.

Wally bolted. He ran around the fight, faster than fast, fast enough to whip the winds and drag the dust from the bolts. Not quite fast enough to nullify gravity. Whatever Etrigan had in mind, it was worth a shot. They weren't getting anywhere fast like this.

The demon lifted his hands at the invaders. "By the cold heart of Hela, I command you, Freeze!" white-blue energy rolled from his hands, smashing across the trolls. They slowed, then stilled as frost covered them a sunk into their skin.

Etrigan looked at the red blur and raised his voice again.

"Faster!" he shouted, and Wally complied. He ran, so fast that those not able to correct their balance started wobbling.

"Faster!" came the shout again. Wally pushed himself. The frozen statues rocked back and forth. Splintered cracks started to spread across them. Wally felt his stomach drop when the ice disintegrated, taking the trolls along with it. He hated ending any kind of life. Even that of conjured, probably not even really alive monster.

He came skidding to a stop in front of the other's, begging for breath.

"How-" he sucked in, "was that?"

Wally had never seen Etrigan's teeth revealed in anything besides a vicious glare. Seeing the knife thin smile on his blackened lips was borderline surreal.

"That will do."

"Where's J'onn?" Diana asked, looking up. He had been in the crow's nest. Now, though…

'J'onn?' Wally tried again.

This time, he received a strained response.

'I know what I have to do,' the martian said cryptically.

'J'onn, what are you doing?' he asked, worry coating his tone.

The manhunter said simply, 'Trust me.'

So Wally did. When they found out that he had stranded them on the Watchtower, Wally stuck up for him against Etrigan. When they tracked the Javelin and followed him to a giant, evil castle, he insisted that J'onn wouldn't give her the stone.

When he walked towards her, rock box in hand, Wally started to doubt. J'onn looked at him right before he deposited it in her hand and Wally lunged, making to snatch it from him but instead tangling himself and Etrigan. 'Accidentally', of course.

"Nothing will keep me from my loved ones!" J'onn practically shouted it at the others. When Diana and Bruce charged it was not Morgan, but Mordred who took them on with magic. Neither of the pair would look at Wally. Morgan wasn't using one of her arms.

Wally looked at J'onn and their eyes met.

'I trust you,' he told the alien. An imprint of a smile appeared in his mind and Wally shouted, 'no!' when J'onn gave Morgan the brick. His horror turned to humor as soon as she had it in hand.

"Got'cha," he sang offhanded. Her head snapped towards him. The mask was only cracked now.

"What are you talking abou-" she froze when the brick in her hand beeped. From out of his cape J'onn held up a switch.

The stone, and it's container, exploded into a ball of fire that sent the sorceress flying backwards. J'onn turned from her while Mordred ran for his mom, towards Wally. He stopped in front of the speedster and offered him a hand.

Wally grinned and took it, hauling himself up and turning towards the rest of his fellows, who were staring at J'onn in shock. Everyone except Bruce, who just raised a brow through his cowl.

"I told you so," Wally said triumphantly.

* * *

 ***most of those memories will be featured in my upcoming companion piece, 'A Runner's Heart', which will consist of Wally and his loved ones in fluffy/horribly sad scenarios. If there's something in particular you want to see, a ship or a scene, let me know and I'll put it in there.**


	19. Finding Paradise

**Reviews;**

 **Tigergirl1723: Yes there will! I'll go into that a little later. This chapter is sad enough as is ^^**

 **Panther4Life: He will! In a while. It'll be sad**

 **Molto Alesato: Thanks! You don't need to be constructive, any support it welcome**

 **Jeckelope89: Well uh, you get your answer right now!**

 **DarkDust27: Their shock is hilarious! And totally what Wally is going for.**

 **RJDG-fanatic: I'm glad you think so!**

 **Harbringer Of Chaos: There is no one so dangerous as a good man pushed into dark corners.**

 **Duskrider: I'm really good at sad, aren't I?**

 **K.J. Bollinger: Thank you!**

 **Isadorator: Thank you! I spent way too long on it.**

 **Vampireharry the 2: Thanks! I will!**

 **AlyssPotter: Thanks! Here's more!**

 **Dark Starlight Nekomata: I'm still totally undecided on romance. That's why I'm planning a whole story dedicated to what could be instead of what is!**

 **Wildjay1585: Oh, he had a lot to explain after this one.**

 **GoldenBugPrime: Thanks!**

 **Canary512: I hope this meets your expectations!**

 **Little miss BANANA HEAD: You are full of good ideas! Like the one I slipped in here**

 **Moonshadowcuteness1: Oh, I can make worse things. Just wait.**

 **Not-Gonna-Update: Hooray for bonding!**

 **Wicked Neko: I think I can arrange that ^^**

 **HysMajister: Your poor teacher!**

 **Guest from November 29th: I won't quite on this one, no way!**

 **Wynter Spite: Thanks! I love hurting Wally ^^**

 **AvatarMomo: I can work that in, but you might be disappointed with one of my official ships for the end.**

 **Rocker on: You're on the right track, but I have other plans for what I'm doing when he tears through the speedforce.**

 **Skatingandcruzing: Always glad to rip hearts apart!**

 **KirataKitaoji: you got it!**

 **Predictive Redundancy: I will! I never stop writing, even if you don't see all of it.**

 **Christina: That is very long and very specific. PM me.**

 **XXII-the Fool: Oh, we'll see. He's had a lot of experience with betrayal. And I love that suggestion.**

 **Guest from December 8th: Dark Wally is my favorite Wally.**

 **DoctorMerlinReid: I like your name! I'm sorry to disappoint you ^^'.**

 **BlueMoonAce: I will!**

 **Skyfall: I'll try, no promises.**

 **R27wolf: Thanks!**

 **The-Only-Temporary-Name: Oh! What story? I'm curious now.**

 **GenderbentDragonRider: I DO IT BECAUSE I LOVE TO**

* * *

The world had the strangest tendency to try and end.

There were three epicenters for the end of the world, usually. Those were, of course, New York, Tokyo, and Metropolis. Gotham was a new one.

And, of course, Bruce waited until the last possible moment, the _very last second_ to let anyone help him. And this was what he got. The streets flooding with the souls of the underworld in the form of a river the belonged in Disney's Hercules.

Fights had formed on rooftops, between Batman, Wonder Woman, and Hawkgirl. The rest of them were running evacuation efforts on the populace. Batman's fight with a massive, hulking creature was a little too close for comfort.

Wally was pissed as hell, but he didn't have time for that. He hadn't even had time to eat before he sprinted to the dark city. They were busy. He was busy, weighted down, and had little lives relying on him, all thanks to Dick's attempted heroics even out of a uniform he hadn't gotten to wear yet and the misfortune of two of the children he cared so dearly for.

*Flash had Artemis by the arm, a little bird held onto one of his legs as Wally held on to the fire escape with his other hand. He could barely hold on at this point, he was so drained. Just then he got an idea.

"Hey kid!" he yelled over the chaos on the other side of the building. Richard Grayson looked up. "How's your acrobatics?"

Dick gave a small confused look before a small grin graced his lips. "Pretty good!" He chirrped. Flash gritted his teeth. It was now or never.

"I'll kick you up. You gotta make it to the roof, okay?" he waited until Dick nodded. "On three! One, Two, Three!" Flash swung at each number, finally kicking up Dick so that the boy did a series of areal flips and landed solidly on the rooftop. The boy went back to the edge of the building just as Flash hoisted Artemis up by her hand. By this point, Wally's reserved strength was depleting. Not much time left before he'd pass out.

Artemis was pulled out to safety before the fire escape could give way, which Wally jumped down onto wall and zoomed up the side, landing in a heap near the two children. He was panting hard, his limbs shaking from the strain.

"Flash! Are you okay?" Dick asked, his young eyes wide with worry.

Artemis smacked him upside the head, as she was prone to, and Wally didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry at how familiar it was.

"Of course he's not! Look at him! He can't even speak!"

Flash grumbled "I resent that..." before promptly passing out.

With absolute _perfect_ timing, Batman landed on the rooftop, taking in the two children kneeling beside the rumpled Flash before coming over to check his pulse. The two children nearly stopped breathing.

"Dude!" Dick stage-whispered to Artemis, who had failed to breathe at all, "That's Batman!" He wasn't the best actor yet, but harsh whispers made him sound more surprised than he actually was to see Bruce. Who was probably pretty mad at him for not doing what he said and staying with Alfred.

Artemis glared "I can tell!" she stage-whispered back. She nudged the boy. "Tell him!"

"Oh right!"

Batman glared at the two. "Tell me what?"

"Flash needs food! he's out cold 'cause he doesn't have any energy left!" The boy piped up, his eyes wide and innocent. Just then, a smaller boy flung himself over the ledge, landing nearby with all the grace his tiny body could manage. He immediately skidded to his knees, his hands full of granola bars.

"Dont panic! I'm here with the arsenal!" he called out, opening two of the bar packets before shoving them in Flash's mouth, forcing the unconcious man to chew. When both bars were gone, the boy sat back on his hunches, smiling smugly.

"So who's the baby now?"

"You," Artemis and Dick shot back on beat. Batman was bewildered. Was this why Flash was always helping these children? So that they'd help him too? *

Except, that couldn't be it. There was no reason, not a single one, for Flash to have an interest in any of them. They weren't even in his city. Beside's Dick being adopted by a multi-millionaire, none of them had anything to offer him in the long run.

Unless he planned on making an army of orphans and street children, which was not the most outlandish thing to happen today, thanks to the combined efforts of Black Briar Thorn and an unknown force that Bruce had yet to come in contact with.

It was just such a totally un-Flash thing to do that even Bruce, paranoid and panicky Bruce, couldn't wrap his head around it.

A soft sound came from his right and Bruce looked over to see the Flash, a tuff of red hair springing out of his cowl, sitting up on the rooftop. He was surrounded by children. They had already evacuated most of them, and most of the people in the city, onto helicopters and the Lanterns ring constructs.

They had managed to erect a sort of barrier around the city, keeping the horror inside and the people outside, but it would only last so long. They needed to find a way to end this.

But that was easier said than done.

"You kids get out of here," Flash ordered, pointing up to where Superman was floating down towards him. "You helped a lot, but we need you guys to be safe now," he spoke with slow clarity and handed them, one at a time, up to Superman. He was good with kids. None of them fought or argued. They just smiled at him, and Jason gave him another granola bar.

When he stepped back and Superman flew off, Bruce asked, "Did you skip breakfast?" dryly.

Flash grinned sheepishly. "Super speed, super metabolism," he said with a shrug, before turning back to the churning darkness beneath them, the eyes of damned staring up at them. Bruce grabbed his grappling hook and shot it across the street before he held his hand to the speedster.

"There's work to do," he said gruffly, and the ginger stepped into his arm and hugged his shoulders. He should have been smiling, Bruce thought, but it was absent from him.

"Let's go."

* * *

"This is wro- hey!" Wally jerked, head snapping to John's hand on his arm. The Lantern caught his eye and shook his head.

Wally pulled from him, stepped in front of Diana. He didn't know about royalty, beyond when he saved Queen Perdita. He didn't really care, either.

"This is wrong," he repeated, willing his voice level rather than vicious. Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, lifted her nose at him but met his eyes.

"Our laws state that any who bring a man upon our shores can no longer stay among us," she said slowly. As if he had missed it the first time.

"The law is the law," Diana said from behind him, resignation in her voice. He turned to see her staring at him and the look in her eyes nearly broke his heart. Wally had been feeling funny all day. This wasn't a time where he was going to put up with bs being leveled against his loved ones.

"Okay, fine. And our laws say that murder is wrong, but I'm a cop. A CSI, and I've seen men walk away because of a bargain, or women get off because it was self defense. That's what this is," Wally gestured to the damage around them. "Diana made a choice, she put your lives above everything else and brought us here to help you."

"She knew what she was doing-"

"And that's how much she loves you!" Wally stepped forwards, until a spear head touched his throat.

He didn't' back down, didn't look at the Amazon that hissed at him, "You will show respect to our queen."

"I'll show respect when she's done something to earn it," Wally snapped back. "All I've seen her do is mercilessly force upon a law-"

"Silence!"

"-that hasn't changed in thousands of years! Times change, so do people and societies and circumstances and if you can't evolve along with them what are you leading these women for?!" he demanded. The blade pressed tighter and with barely a thought he blurred right through it. "You're their queen, fine, great, I don't care. This isn't justice, this isn't the mark of leadership, this is a failing on your part to- to-" Fuck, speeches were never his strong point. "To take initiative into a new age."

"I cannot show favoritism to my daughter," Hippolyta said, but there was some change in her stony face.

Wally did not say, 'you'd be the first politician in history not to'. Instead, he said, "Then not favoritism. I'm not saying that she shouldn't be punished at all, I'm saying eternal banishment is a shit idea."

The amazon with the spear growled at him. He still wouldn't look at her.

"What, then, would you suggest?" the queen's voice was cool as ice. Her eyes were not.

Wally scrambled for ideas. 'Imprisonment' wasn't a good one. 'Banishment' was already out. Maybe something similar….

"A pilgrimage," he said at last. "Or, a temporary exile. Have Diana walk the earth, see what men do and what women now are,and think about her actions, while you do the same. After an allotted time she can come back and tell you what she's come up with, and you can make final judgement then."

"The words of a man have no power here," the amazon that had been threatening him spoke up, "He tresspasses on our island, protected by the gods. He has no hold on our laws."

"I have no hold on the laws in the US either but that doesn't mean I'll keep my mouth shut when something isn't right. It's the same inter planetary, ask the Lanterns! And if you're that worried about your gods, Hermes and I get our speed from the same place," he finished there, standing back and looking straight at the woman.

Hippolyta stared down at him and he realized he probably should have taken a more diplomatic approach, but it was too late for that now. His words were out and there was nothing left he could say. He wasn't a lobbyist, he was a vigilante, a hero. He made speeches, he inspired, he was good at that much. But something like this, he suspected, required more subtlety.

"You will leave now, Red Messenger, and you will not return," Hippolyta ordered, and this time he bit his tongue. "Diana," she turned to her daughter, "Your banishment holds true. You may not return to this island unless summoned by me personally."

Wally's head fell in time with Diana's.

Until the meaning in the words registered. 'Unless summoned'.

A small smile touched his lips but he hid it, until they were sitting on the Javelin. He was joined by Diana.

"You didn't have to do that," she told him first and foremost.

"Of course I did," he argued, "I would never let anyone hurt you like that."

Diana smiled at him and elbowed him lightly, for her. "I need no man to defend me."

"How about a friend?"

Her smiled softened. "That is more acceptable."

Wally wasn't able to say anything else. His phone line went off in his communicator and he had to pick it up, smiling apologetically at Diana. What he heard really threw him.

"Flash? My name is Barry Allen. I need to talk to you."

* * *

Wally got calls from the CCPD pretty regularly. As himself and the Flash, for any number of reasons. That wasn't weird.

What was weird was hearing Barry on the other end of the line, sounding panicked.

What was even stranger was that he wanted the Flash (not Wally) to meet him at the hospital.

Needless to say the Flash arrived in record time, zipping around doctors and nurses in a heartbeat. He knew this peatrics hall. He had been in it for half a month once, when he was just a twelve year old. In room 13B.

He was stopped by his not-uncle at 13B.

"Barry?" he asked, unnecessarily. The blond nodded. Rudy and Mary West, his not-parents, appeared at the man's shoulder and Wally had to fight not to jerk at their presence so near to him. It still stung, if only a little.

"Thanks for coming," Barry's smile was strained. A glance inside revealed Iris sitting by the bed, looking down at a prone, pale form with a shock of red hair.

"No problem. Why, exactly, did you call me here?"

He had an idea, but it wasn't possible. There was no way that-

"Wally, my nephew, was in an accident," Barry told him. Wally's stomach sank. "He was in the closet for his chemestry class, during the storm last week and-"

"Lightning struck him?" Wally guessed. Barry stood straighter with surprise. This worlds Wally's parents' eyes widened. The Flash walked into the room, gesturing for them to come in and shut the door. In the bed, the little boy (god had he really been that small?) shifted. Green eyes flickered open before they shot wide at the sight of the red superhero.

Little Wally sat up with speed beyond a eight year old. Beyond possibility of any normal human.

"Flash!" he shouted, staring at him.

Wally waved at the tiny red head, who opened and closed his mouth several times fast enough to cause a breeze.

"Hold that thought kid," he requested, smiling kindly at him. The boy nodded rapidly.

"How did you know?" Rudy asked. Mary stepped up by her sons side and Wally felt his stomach churn.

He hesitated a moment. How did he do this?

He reached for his cowl and, in one quick, stupid, impulsive move, pulled it off.

"Because," he said quietly, "I'm him. From the year 2016."

He half expected to hear a pin drop.

Instead, he heard his younger counterpart shout, "That is so cool!"

And, he supposed, maybe it was.

* * *

 **** Everything between these two is an almost direct quote of an amazing excerpt that the lovely little miss BANANA HEAD sent me way back in march.**


	20. A Better World: Part 1

**Silver Goldentime: Thank you! I'm sorry about your day! I hope this one can make your (hopefully good day) even better! I agree, it really annoys me that none of her friends fought for her against the judgement.**

 **ZFighter18: Nope! Or if he does, I haven't planned it yet.**

 **Repetitive Redundancy: Eeeeh close but no cigar!**

 **The-Only-Temporary-Name: Thanks!**

 **vampireharry the 2: I'll try!**

 **tigergirl1723: Here is more for you! With double Bruce's, how about that.**

 **Canary 512: Yes he is! That was actually given to me by a glorious fan, little miss BANNANA HEAD, way back in last march. I finally found a place to put it ^^**

 **Harbringer Of Kaos: I would have written more on it, but truthfully the episode centered so much around Diana that it felt weird to try and retell it from Wally when he was involved in so little besides just fighting.**

 **Wicked Neko: Yes! And yes, yes, I still need to get Runner's Heart up and running.**

 **GenderbentDragonRider: Little Wally is adorable.**

 **Jackalope89: Yep, that's because not all of it was written by me. And, probably. As I've said before, I screwed with the timelines.**

 **AlyssPotter: Thank you!**

 **goddragonking: Thank you! It's not really soon but here it is!**

 **duskrider: Teen Titans for sure!**

 **YoKoChi150: Happy New Year! Here's some more, it's not really soon but it is here!**

 **skatingandcruzing: I keep doing that, don't I? Whoops. Well, here's something of a conclusion. Not really.**

 **nekochan1994: Yes he is! I love Wally, and yes they are!**

 **Moonshadowcuteness1: IKR?**

 **little miss BANANNA HEAD: Thank you for sending it to me! And please feel free to send more, I love your ideas! I'm glad you liked the chapter ^^**

 **hama-chama: I'm glad!**

 **Gabriella: thank you! And yes, they will. I actually know exactly where, too.**

 **Sofia: Oh my god I love Avatar so much. Thank you, I'll try!**

 **Rocker On: Yeeeeah sorry about the wait. It's here now anyhow! Wally really does lack a good dose of common sense sometimes. That was a lot of Doctor Who references all at once, wow.**

 **A: As you wish!**

 **Guest from January 3rd: Thank you! Here's some more!**

 **GoldenBug Prime: He tried! If John hadn't stopped him Wally would have torn Hippolyta down. Batman will have some trouble with this boy.**

 **Flaremage: Thank you! I'm so excited for the minime!**

 **Panther4Life: Yes, yes he is.**

 **Wynter Spite: I may or may not enjoy dramatics… Flash should always have an army of children. He's so sweet.**

 **Guest from January 9th: ^^**

 **Guesdt from January 9th: You can thank little miss BANANNA HEAD for that one! She wrote it herself!**

 **Isadorator: And more to come!**

 **Burreto: You had to wait, sorry ^^'**

 **serenacp0: Any actual pairings I do with Wally are going to be published in a seperate story that I haven't put up yet, so there's that.**

 **Zash: Thanks!**

 **Ezzzi: Thank you!**

 **peppymint: That's just fanon, but I personally like it a lot. I may or may not ship the chaos lord and science boy. Maybe. Kinda. A lot. That is absolutely sometihng going into Runner's Heart.**

 **Guest from February 1st: thank you! I will!**

 **Guy Lantern: Thank you! I love dimension travel, and time travel. I just love them so much!**

 **DarkDust27: I liked it too! That's why I was so happy when I was given permission to post it ^^**

 **littleditto: Aaah, mostly they know he's a superhero that tried to save them, I doubt they know he's been helping them so much. And if batman couldn't figure it out before as soon as he finds out little Wally is the new sidekick that's going to synch it. Guest from**

 **February 8th: thanks!**

 **Finder18: Eh, that's probably not going to happen.**

 **Guest from February 10th: I update when the chapter feels done, sorry.**

 **Bumbletear: Thank you! Here it is ^^**

 **Valor-Derzod: I mean she would probably have facebook or something, but I see your point. There's also always some kind of video footage of people, whether they want it to exist or not. Plus birthrecords and such. Thanks!**

 **ChopSuzi: Thank you! I hope you work that out ^^**

 **Celasi: Thanks! I really wanted to write this after I couldn't find one that someone else did, so here we are today. And, that's fair. But the magic thing, he was possessed by a Lord of Order, and we (or at least I) know that he started to believe in after that, and he was on a team with Zatanna for years, so he'd have to pick up at least the basics.**

 **auPHE: Deal with it ¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯**

 **For real though, I put the reviews here because I want to. I always have. As for 'artificially padding word count', I don't really care? The chapters aren't going to get longer with less reviews answered, I don't have a finite amount of space. You** _ **can**_ **scroll. No one's forcing you to read them, I even bold them so they're easy to identify. Also, check your facts, there's not a rule against reviews in a chapter, that's a lie perpetuated for years. The policies say '** _ **The chapter system is not to be used as placeholder for non-story content such as author notes. You can add short author notes to the beginning or at the end of stories but never as individual chapters**_ ' **. These are not individual chapters. I'm not breaking any rules so don't make shit up for your own agenda.**

 **Also, I've been doing this for almost a decade. It's a little late to 'nip that bad habit in the bud'. By which I mean, this is one thing that I'm not going to change. Thanks for phrasing everything so cheerfully though ^^**

 **Sparks67: Thanks, I will!**

 **Rocker On: Sorry, here's something!**

 **Lec: I shall!**

 **BlueMoonAce: I can actually!**

 **Guest from April 7th: That was the most self entitled thing I've ever read in my life.**

 **BeigeBagels: Thank you! I'll try!**

* * *

"What's first? Running to Europe? Super sonic punches? Tornado's?"

Wally wondered if this was how Uncle Barry had felt when he first got his powers. Amused and a little exasperated.

Probably, since he had asked the same questions at the same speed, his eyes just as bright and his body shaking with his excitement. It was cute, and so with an exaggerated sigh Wally shook his head.

"None of the above," he declared. His younger self's face fell, which was still a trip to see.

"Then what are we going to do?" Small Wally asked. That was going to get really confusing. Really fast.

"Homework."

The eight year old stared up at him blankly. "What?"

Wally knew the feeling. He hated homework as much as the next person, but he also remembered his school years very vividly. Especially the the ones that happened right after he got his powers. They had been miserable.

"Look, Wally- Kid, That's weird. Um. Wally, school is going to get hard. And I don't mean in the way that things get hard when you get older. You're a smart boy, you'll do just fine as far as that goes, but the thing is, you're going to struggle in other ways. Your brain is going to move faster than your body will for a few months, maybe a few years, so taking tests and doing school work will be awful. You'll know the answers like that," he snapped his fingers, "But you'll have trouble putting them on paper."

He figured that he shouldn't mention how it was to be a meta in a school of regular people just yet. That seemed like something that should wait. And if this Wally didn't have those same troubles, then Wally Wally wasn't going to set him up for failure.

The power of suggestion was a powerful thing.

"And that's going to get frustrating, it's going to make you want to scream because you know that you're smart enough to do all this but you won't be able to probe it to your teachers, or your parents, and it gets… frustrating," he waved his hand in a few circles. "Or it did with me. And I want to save you that. So, we're going to do homework. And we start homework, by lapping the city five times."

For his entire speech little Wally had looked more and more disappointed. Until Wally said the last sentence. Then, the boys eyes lit up.

"We get to run!?"

Wally laughed, his spirits lifted from the excitement his small self showed. This was weird, but a kid was a kid, and this one was elated.

"Yeah kid. We're going to _run_."

* * *

It was a very good thing that Wally was a genius, or else he would have had to dip into a few resources he would rather pretend he didn't have, or call in favors he didn't care about, to get a hold of friction proof cloth. Let alone that of a particular color.

Since he was, you know, a genius, he could just apply the chemicals needed to make it himself. He did this for years before he realized that he didn't _need_ to.

In fact, Berry had spent years doing the same thing and he had never realized that they didn't need to do that. Wally had come to realize that somehow, no matter what he was wearing, it didn't burn up when he ran. His shoes didn't wear through either, at all. Which didn't make any sense.

This lead to a very long thought process involving the science behind friction and how the people he carried (and he himself) didn't burst into flames once they reached the right speeds. But, forgoing a long and overly scientific explanation of how this went, and how the Speedforce was something of an overall explanation for every oddity in his life. he was left with a much easier way to make his suites.

Which was, still, make it himself. It was easier, and cheaper without the chemicals, all he had to do was add the armor beneath it. This made replicating the Kid Flash costume easy but it, didn't feel quite right once he was looking at it laid out on his bed.

The yellow and red stared up at him through empty sockets and it felt like a betrayal.

' _I'd always figured you'd wind up in something more yellow and red._ '

He could still remember, in intimate detail, how happy Bart had been when he'd said that. How he'd faltered, fallen behind and literally leapt forwards in his joy. To pass that off to someone else felt _wrong_.

Becoming the Flash hadn't felt like that, but becoming the Flash was stepping up to a mantle than the city needed. This was different.

So he set the yellow and red aside and set about making something else. Something different.

Something red and white.

* * *

Dinner was awkward. Really awkward. Wally had never felt so uncomfortable around his own family. Though, this wasn't his family. Not really

They got about halfway through before Iris finally asked, "Why did you come back?"

Wally paused, potatoes halfway to his mouth. He'd been waiting for this since he'd first revealed himself in the hospital room weeks ago. He'd expected it to be Rudy who asked, honestly, but Iris was no surprise either. She was an investigative reporter, after all.

The elder speedster set his fork back on his plate and considered his words for what was a second to everything that was not named _Wally_.

"It wasn't really intentional," he said finally.

"What do you mean? How do you accidentally time travel?" Now there was his dad that was not his dad. Still weird.

"Well, see, these aliens invaded. And they tried to, you know, blow up the planet. And while I was trying to syphon off some of the energy being used it did something, ripped a hole in space-time I guess, and I woke up here in 1999."

"If you were here in 1999 why didn't you make a public appearance until 2000?" the youngest redhead asked, turning his bright green eye up at his idol. His idol that was himself.

So weird.

"I was too busy trying to get a job and find a place to live," he shrugged, "And I was still active. I helped with fires and stuff."

"Why didn't you just come home?" the child asked again.

"That's- Well, I didn't want to mess up the timeline, and cause a paradox or unravel the space-time continuum or something," he waved his hand, gesturing vaguely. There was any number of horrible things that could happen with time travel.

Though Rudy and Mary didn't look convinced Barry's face fell into grimness and his younger self nodded solemnly. Iris looked thoughtful. A smart boy. Just like Wally was at his age.

"I wish you would have come to us and told us what was going on, or what was going to happen to my son," Mary said finally. Her lips were pursed, all too familiar to Wally.

"I couldn't," Wally said, "If you knew what was going to happen, then you might try to stop it, and if you stopped it, you could have potentially destroyed the whole of reality," Wally explained, trying to be gentle in his lies.

She paled greatly.

Wally felt bad, and so he took a breath.

"Or, if it didn't happen at all I would have been making you worry for nothing. There's a chance I'm from a parallel timeline instead of the same one."

"Another dimension?" the younger speedster looked delighted at the prospect.

His parents just looked annoyed and confused, like when he had first started talking about nothing but science in the third grade. He knew he was smarter than them. He took more after Ira than Rudy or Mary. It had always been a source of tension. The whole superhero thing helped, but only a little.

Wally shrugged. "Maybe. Probably. I don't have the instruments available to really test it."

"The police don't either," Barry added, to which Wally nodded, looking amused.

"I know. I work with you," he reminded his not-uncle.

Barry grimaced. "I don't know how I never noticed you were the Flash. I see you every day!"

Wally just laughed, feeling lighter.

* * *

The whole inter-dimensional travel thing wasn't exactly _new_ to Wally. That would be kind of weird, if he tried to say he had never met anyone from another world, when he himself was from one. He knew that Klarion the Witch Boy and Nabu were from other planes of existence, and technically Zatanna and Zatara were _descendants_ of otherworldly beings.

That didn't mean that he was prepared when the J'onn of another world stepped through the wall, and was followed by replica's of most of the rest of his new team.

Indeed, his heart almost stopped when he found out where they were from, and he had a horrible, gut wrenching slap of homesickness at the mere thought. He had given up on going to other worlds, but these people….

These people had found a way.

There was a heartbeat where he felt more than saw J'onn stutter when he looked at him and his own Martian.

He barely paid attention to the plight that the new Martian brought to them. He was so occupied with thoughts of his first home, so lost in memories that he barely registered what was being said. Dimensions collapsing. Did that include the one his parents were in?

J'onn, his J'onn, touched his shoulder lightly and Wally looked back at him. He saw compassion in those crimson eyes and turned back to the matter at hand.

"I say we help them," and then maybe he could convince them to share their tech.

Hope bubbled in his chest, sparking his steps and lighting his smile.

It fell when he stepped into a flat white box.

"Don't you guys believe in doors or windows?" he asked the new Martian. Dread turned in his stomach. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

He turned to shout, to run, but an apology interrupted him and lightning exploded through his brain.

He screamed and fell, writhing on the floor. Lightning rolled through his veins and he tried, honestly he tried to lift himself up but it was to no avail.

He fell, his last sight was a mockery of Clark's face.

* * *

Bad things happened in Gotham. Bad things happened in Gotham all the time, murders, rampages, apocalypses. Kidnappings happened too, horribly, too often for anyone's comfort. Children vanished and were never seen or heard from again.

So it didn't make much sense to Bruce when his copies computer popped up with a name that he didn't recognize at all.

Jason Todd was missing.

He didn't know why this was important. He didn't know why the Flash's name was next to it in connections. And, from the notes that he found on the massive computer, this worlds Bruce didn't know anymore than he did.

So, he did what anyone would do. He went to ask. And to avoid the little acrobat that was running around the mansion above his head.

A jaunt through the portal and a walk down the hall brought him to a halt in front of the struggling speedster. It took a second for Flash to notice that he was there. When he did he bared his teeth like a trapped dog.

"What are you looking at?!" he spat, ripping at his restraints.

"Calm down," he ordered shortly, "You'll appreciate this someday."

"Yeah?" he challenged, "I don't think Hawkgirl is going to appreciate it very much."

Bruce didn't flinch. "That was an accident," he defended. Anyone who didn't know him wouldn't notice the sharpening of his tongue. "She's in our best hospital now and-"

"I don't want to hear it," Flash looked away from him, towards the wall. Staring at it fixedly.

"Believe me, that last thing we want is to lose another-" he cut himself off, stopping he beseeching.

"Another what?" the speedster snapped harshly. His eyes may have been hidden behind his cowl, but with his viciousness Bruce had no trouble imagine green eyes blazing behind the white film.

He forced his feet to stay still even when his chest told him to leave, for his own sake.

"Who's Jason Todd?"

The reaction was immediate.

"Don't touch him!" Flash threw himself violently against the restraints, threatening to rip his shoulder out of its socket. "He hasn't done anything! I swear if you do anything to him I'll-"

"I'm not the one interested in hurting him," Bruce interrupted. This wasn't what he'd had in mind. He was trying to help, even if they couldn't see it yet. They would learn. They had to. One day.

An unnatural stillness had fallen over the speedster.

"Who is?" he asked. His voice had dropped into a hissed whisper.

Bruce met his eyes. "I don't know. Yet." There was a promise in that. Flash stared at him, forlorn, and slumped against the manacles. His energy seemed to have vanished just from this. Bruce walked away, a new mission in mind.

This was important to the Flash. That was more than enough reason for him to look into it.

* * *

Wally closed his eyes and breathed. Focused on only that as he tried to think. So much had happened and he was still piecing it all together.

He had to set Jason aside, for now. As much as it pained him he couldn't help him until he'd freed himself. He tried both of the braces on his hands, and the ones on his feet, but he couldn't get up the speed to vibrate through. Something dripped down his upper lip.

Damn it.

"Got a plan yet, Bats?" he asked, calling to the next cell over.

"No," was the blunt response.

"How long until you will?" Wally looked at all corners of the cell, seeking anything. The sensors attach the his chest pulled uncomfortably when he twisted.

"No, I won't come up with one. Ever."

Wally's heart sunk. That was impossible. There was always one more chance, always one more play, always one more plan that Batman had for them. This was incomprehensible.

Wally slumped in his manacles. He could taste the copper from his nose bleed.

He closed his eyes, and tried to think. They weren't dead, so that wasn't the goal of the Justice Lords. Batman said they would 'thank them later' and that they didn't want to 'lose another-' another what? And why had he gotten the sense of their Manhunter faltering? What was that? Why would they-

"Oh," his eyes opened. "I'm dead."

He hadn't meant to be heard, but Bruce said, "Yes."

"That's weird," he added. This world didn't make any sense. This was the second world where he had died. Where he had died. His mouth twitched. This was cruel.

He focused, concentrating on only one muscle in his body. His heart. It was a trick he'd picked up from Dick. The then-Robin had had the brilliant idea that if he could slow his heart beat to mimic death, a speedster could speed it up to do the same. And he was right.

So, that was what Wally did. He twisted, putting on a show until he knew he'd reached the point of electronics losing him.

Only then did he fall limp.

He counted. It took less than thirty seconds for this Batman to come sprinting to him. The key locked into his cuff and turned it, freeing his hand. Wally let it fall limply. Batman freed his other arm and when Wally started to fall forwards he reached to catch him, shouting his name in a panic.

"Flash! Flash! _Wally_!" his voice wasn't loud but the desperation was there.

Wally almost felt bad for smacking the back of his head just hard enough to knock him out. Wally freed his feet and put this Batman in his place. There was something else weird about this world. The air tasted just like his own.

"Sorry," he shrugged and went to free his friends.

They had a world to take back.


	21. A Better World: Part 2

Okay I do know that I don't update consistently, but unless I mark it as on hiatus of whatever i still plan on continuing.

IMPORTANT LizzieLee, you're the 500th reviewer! Message me and you get a prize!

K.J. Bollinger: Thanks!

Jackalope89: … You shouldn't feed me cruel ideas.

Rocker on: No one likes homework, but it's good for… something. I think. I really don't know if that would unravel space and time or something or not.

Littleditto: no, no, don't worry about that! I have other things going on in YJ universon.

JAM3.14: Thank you! I do it mostly because I like to, and I don't like the FF messaging system very much. I always end up sending stuff twice and it gets old.

Serenacp0: I definitely haven't given up!

YoKoChi150: At least it got updated!

Harbinger of Chaos: I guess you'll have to find out!

GenderbentDragonRider: It's finally here!

RandomCitizen: Yes?

Silver Goldentime: It's sorta like this awkard 'Wally!' Followed by duel "which one?!".

BlueMoonAce: Here it is!

Goddragonking: I'll try!

Kateri1: thanks!

Tigergirl1723: Wouldn't it be interesting? It might even bring a way back home…

Duskrider: Thank you! Won't their reactions be interesting?

GoldenBugPrime: Its finally here!

Skatingandcruzing: Bit of both!

ChopSuzi: Sorry ^^'

Vampireharry the 2: Thanks!

Isadorator: well here it is!

Guestz: Aaaah I update when I update? I made a goal this month to updat as many stories as I could by October 30th, but usually its' just random.

Moonshadowcuteness1: Yeah life is pretty crazy. In the last year I've worked in 7 different stores across 4 cities, I have… so little time. But I'm up for a promotion so hopefully I'll finally get to stay in one place for a while.

AlyssPotter: The real question will be answered. I have the answer, but I don't think I want to publish it yet.

Little miss BANNANA HEAD: why do you do… these things… to me…

Nekochan1994: we'll see!

1MoreInMe1:Hi, it's back!

Lichan: Thanks!

LiteratureGirl12: Thank you! It's not soon, but it is here!

MsD: Well you're partially right. This is not the YJ dimension.

Star Awesome: Sorry you had to!

FlightfootKeyeeker: Yep! Poor Barry. And no Barry speed, means no Eobard, means no Inertia or Impulse or even Tornado Twins. How about that?

Guest from May 23rd: Yes, sorry! I'm usually watching the episodes as I'm writing so I tend to forget certain details.

The Keeper of World: Thank you! I try ^^

Peppymint: You will find out here!

Magdilan: I will, thank you!

Coolallusion: lol, good thing for him huh?

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Amelia love Anime: I, also, love anime. Thanks!

Guest from July 26th: Gracias ^^

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LizzieLee: You won, message me!

Rhino-Sama: Thank you so much! I try to do him justice ^^

* * *

Wally finished settling Clark onto the earth again before he stepped back to survey them. No one was at a hundred percent. J'onn had been stuffed under a heat lamp and he still looked like he was melting. Clark looked ready to sleep for a few weeks. They didn't know where John's ring went, but wherever it was he couldn't will it back to his hand. Out of all of them, the only ones doing okay were himself, Diana, and Bruce.

"Thanks," Clark patted his shoulder. "Now. Let's go get our world back." He turned and started walking, before Wally cut in front of him.

"No way," he crossed his arms and stared down the man of steel. "You're not in any shape for this."

"Flash, what are you doing?" he demanded, "They're in our world, doing god knows what-"

"And there's no way that you could beat a single one of them right now," he cut in. "Even before you were weakened, they were stronger. They don't hold back. You can't beat Superman."

"If not me, then who?" he demanded. "You?"

Wally shook his head. "No. Not alone. I have an idea, but I need you and J'onn to stay here with John and Shayera."

"There is no way we're letting you go out without us," John stepped closer to him, hand bared like the ring was still on it.

Wally looked at him. Stared evenly at the Green Lantern. "Trust me."

And there it was. The bases of his entire plan. Trust.

John faltered. He looked at Clark, then J'onn. Finally his shoulders dropped.

"Fine."

Wally touched his shoulder. "We'll be fine. You go take care of your girlfriend," he teased, and grabbed Bruce to run off with before he could hear what John had to say about that. He left them in the prison, trusting they could find Shayera on their own. Diana caught up to them once he slowed down a little.

"So what's the plan?" she asked.

Wally smiled up at her. "You're going to beat Superman. With a little help."

"What allies do we have that can beat Superman?" she asked, frowning at him.

Wally looked away, his smile wide and a little panicked.

"They aren't exactly _Allies_."

* * *

"Where's Flash!"

It was less of a question and more of a demand. Shayera exchanged a glance with her husband, who shrugged, equally lost. This little boy had come seemingly out of nowhere, and was asking for Flash.

The strangest part of this was probably that he was wearing a red and black suit, with Flash's emblem blazing across his in gold. Red goggled partially obscured his eyes.

"Who are you?" Shayera asked at last.

He crossed his arms over his chest, which he puffed out. The kid couldn't even be a teenager.

"I'm his sidekick!"

While Shayera was trying to figure out if their Wally had ever had a sidekick, John looked vaguely amused. His leaned down to the boys size.

"You got a name, kid?"

"I'm Inertia! Where's Flash?" he asked again. He was a little less abrasive this time.

"He's a little tied up right now," Shayera said, sharing a look with her husband, who rolled his eyes at her inside joke.

The little boy squinted at her. "That's what people say when they have someone literally tied up and they're trying to make it sound like they're busy."

She opened her mouth, surprised.

"He's just a little busy, that's all," John cut in, "I'll tell him you were looking for him when we see him again, though," he promised.

Inertia pouted up at them but nodded.

"Why'd your costumes change?" was his next question.

Shayera shrugged. "I thought this one looked better," she said simply. Children, even astute ones, accepted most answers if they thought it was true. And this one was no different.

"Okay. Why are you being bullies?"

"We aren't," John said immediately.

The boy looked right at him.

"You are so! You're not acting like the Justice League at all!" Sheyara frowned down at him, at last, and crossed her arms in mimicry of the child.

"Well, maybe we're more like Justice Lords."

* * *

"What is this place?" Diana asked, looking up at the broken street sign. They had come to house on the outskirts of Central. The two story needed new paint, and the driveway was cracked with weeds, but the house itself was welcoming and quiet most mornings.

"A friend's house." Wally lead them up the drive, to the house, and knocked on the door. One two three, one two, one. The door swung open a second later and Wally found himself with an arm full of figure skater. He laughed and swung Lisa around, grinning down at the blonde.

"You better let go of my sister," Len warned dryly from where he was leaning on the door frame. Mick appeared behind him with a steaming mug.

"Sorry, sorry," he let go and Lisa stepped back, her attention turning to the pair that Wally had brought to their house.

"Is Roscoe around?" he asked, looking into the house.

"Basement," Lisa waved her hand, "What are they doing here?"

"I want to know too. You don't' usually bring your little friends to play with us," Mick bared his teeth in a sort of grin at Diana, who merely stared at him.

"You guys have seen the news, right?" he asked, and when they nodded he went on. "The League and i went to what we were told was another dimension that needed our help. It turned out to be a trap. The League that's been taking over are fakes with everyone's powers. Like us, but stronger."

"And you can't beat yourselves," Len finished. Wally nodded.

"I need Mick, Sam and Roscoe's help."

"What, we're not good enough for you?" Lisa teased, leaning on his shoulder. Wally stayed still so she wouldn't fall.

"Martian's are weak to fire. And telepathic. You can help if you want, but I don't know how well that would work."

"I'm going, Lisa's staying," Len decided, "Mick's my partner. I've got his back."

"Oh no," Lisa turned on her brother, "You're not playing 'princess in the tower' this time. I'm going if you're going."

Wally watched the back and forth between brother and sister, smiling fondly, before he looked up at Mick. He could remember vividly the fight that had ensued when Lisa had decided that she would become a Rogue with her brother and her boyfriend. Half the city had been frozen over.

"Do you feel up to it?" he asked.

The fire starter took a drink before he nodded. "Come get coffee. I'll tell Roscoe."

"Do you do this a lot?" Bruce asked, walking inside with him while the Snart's kept duking it out on the front lawn. Diana came in behind them, sidestepping the basement door while Mick yelled for Roscoe.

"I have breakfast here on sundays."

"Isn't it dangerous to be so close with one's enemies?" Diana accepted the mug that Wally passed to her. He moved around the kitchen, knowing exactly where to find what he needed. The tiles were new. They used to be red, now they were blue and white.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Roscoe piped up from the stair well. "Sam's in jail this week."

Wally was confused. "He hasn't broken out yet?"

"He's got a crush on one of the guards," Roscoe shrugged. He shot the other two heroes an odd look before he jogged up the other stairs. Lisa went tearing after him, looking smug. She was coming with, apparently. By the scowl on Len's face, he was none too happy. He was always so protective of her. Not that Wally blamed him. They played a dangerous game with their lives.

"Okay then. You guys run a jailbreak why I round up more folks?" he offered, ignoring the looks on Diana and Bruce's faces.

"Who else is coming to the party?" Lisa asked, stepped down the last step while securing her hair. Her yellow skirt swirled around her legs and she straightened Roscoe's mask when he followed her down.

"Oh, some other friends. Some not so friendly enemies. You know," he shrugged. And got a shove in the head.

"I hate that cryptic shit. Leave it for the bat," Mick scolded. Sometimes he's changed into his own outfit too.

"Sorry, sorry," he defended with a wave of his hand. "You ready to roast a martian-mellow?"

Mick kicked him right out of the chair.

* * *

"If I am fighting Superman, who is fighting me?" Diana asked on the way out of Wally's city. She had taken over carrying Bruce, who was more than a little nonplussed.

"Well, the only people I think could take you head to head are your mom, and probably aquaman. But I'm pretty sure your mom isn't going to beat on her own daughter, other dimension or not, and Arthur's still hunting down the last of Orm's followers. So I'm going to ask a kid in Fawcett, and I don't actually know the other guy, but I'm pretty sure he'll help. He's pretty chill." Which was a word that wouldn't be popular for another decade. And wasn't that just weird.

"Chill?"

"How is Diana supposed to beat Superman?" Bruce finally put forth. Wally had been waiting for that.

"She's just as strong, probably stronger, and she's a lot smarter," he tossed her an award winning smile. "And, you're going to give her the kryptonite ring in your belt," Wally said simply. Bruce stiffened. Wally ignored it. Bruce had never told him about that, but his Dick had one, and knew where the one in the batcave's vault was kept. They'd had to use it years before.

Wally smiled a little. This was his second time taking on the Justice League, but this time he didn't have a team of 'sidekicks'. He had access to so much more.

"What about Hawkgirl and Green Lantern?"

"That's easier. There's a teleporter I know. I'm going to paint a vault yellow and stick him inside. And Hawkgirl, I was thinking Bats could handle her?" he put forth, looking to Bruce.

Bruce nodded at him, regarding him.

"I had no idea you such a strategist," it sounded like Diana was complimenting him, so he smiled.

"I'm really not. I'm not, you know, a leader," not like Dick, not like Kaldur. That wasn't his place on the team he had left. "But if I have to, I can throw some things together." It helped that this was the second time he'd fought the Justice League, and he'd been thinking about it for almost a decade.

"You've been thinking of this for longer than a few hours."

Wally faltered, looking at Bruce in his surprise. They passed the sign for Fawcett City. The redhead glanced away and turned them down the street. Unless he was wrong, Billy said that he used to hang out outside of Reggie's dinner before his uncle found him. So he had two places to check.

"It's- there's always a chance that something bad will happen. I was expecting more like, you know, mind control, but this is a thing now too… It's just, it's a bad idea not to have a backup plan, especially with people who had powers like ours."

"What's your backup plan for you?" Bruce asked. Wally glanced at him and smiled.

"You."


End file.
